Most men between the ages of 25 and 45 are happy to swap their pinstripe for a pinny and relocate half way around the world – if it meant supporting the woman they loved, research has revealed.
Of the 5,800 single men and women questioned by online dating service Parship, 59% of men said that they would step back from their career if their partner had the potential to earn more money than they did.
Six out of 10 said they would relocate to another part of the country or abroad to be with the woman they loved and 62% said they would be happy to shoulder most of the domestic chores if it meant spending more quality time with their partner.
Women aged less than 40 though, are notably less generous about men when it comes to determining the priorities in their lives. Just under four-fifths (78%) of single women said they would put their career before any relationship, preferring to swap marriage vows for working hours. Just 31% wanted to be married in the next five years and a further 25% were looking forward to having children, rising to 31% in the 25-34 age group.
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Victoria Lukats, who led the research, said: “If the attitudes of single men are anything to go by, perhaps there will be a further shift and blurring of traditional gender roles in the next five to 10 years, especially as an increasing number of employers now offer paternity leave, career breaks and flexible working patterns.
“However, a major stumbling block could remain harder to shift: men still earn higher salaries on average than women, even before they have children. And in reality, it’s still more often the woman who ends up taking a career break or working part time when children come along.”
