The report says that women who are now in their 20s are earning almost as much as men, in contrast to previous generations in which women earned much less than their male counterparts from an early age. It predicts that this earning power means that when this group of women come to have children, it will make sense for couples to share responsibilities for earning and caring more equally than generations before.

Dr Katherine Rake, Director of Fawcett, said: "This useful report raises some interesting issues, but it remains to be seen whether the current generation of twenty something women will be able to sustain this level of equality when it comes to the crunch of having children (*)

"But Fawcett's vision of equality is not simply a role reversal with women becoming the main breadwinners and men becoming the main carers. We want a society in which women and men can share these roles more equally, rather than be forced by the inflexibility of the workplace into one or the other.

"To achieve this we need more flexible working and an end to the myth that looking after children and the home is a role more suited to women.

"As more men are demanding something different from long hours at work (~) and scarce family time, it's time for women and men to work together for a better option."

Notes

(*) Childbirth is still a key trigger point for gender inequality at home and at work. For instance, see Fawcett's recent briefing on women and saving identified childbirth as having a much greater impact on women's financial standing than on men's. http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=478

(~) For instance the EOC's Twenty-first century Dad report found that although a majority of fathers wanted to be more involved with their children, fathers are held back by working long hours as the main breadwinner. http://www.eoc.org.uk/PDF/21st%20_century_dad.pdf

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