It was always women who wanted to settle down and start a family, while men dragged their heels... or so we thought.

一般来说女人们才想生个孩子，稳定下来，而男人们总是尽力拖延。至少我们是这么认为的。

These days, it seems the ladies are being beaten to it by their menfolk（男人们） .

According to research, men are getting broody（孵卵的） too. And what is more, single men are more likely to dream of having children than women.

The experts believe it’s all down to greater equality. Lead researcher Helen Fisher, of Rutgers University, in New Jersey¹, said: 'Men today are more like [the female² archetype原型] than we have seen in generations. They are becoming the broody ones, they are more likely to want to settle down sooner.

‘Complicating matters is the change in women’s attitudes towards life and relationships, mostly driven by the huge numbers flooding into the workforce,’ Miss Fisher told The Sunday Times.

‘Women gain self-confidence, self-worth, money and experience through work and want things that men have for years taken for granted³.’

‘Now those things are within reach and they are grabbing⁴ them.’

The study of 5,199 single men and women in the US was conducted for dating website Match.com.

It found that 51 per cent of unattached men aged⁵ 21 to 34 wanted children, compared to just 46 per cent of single women that age. Men in older age groups were also more broody, with 27 per cent of single guys aged 35 to 44 wanted to have children. But the figure was just 16 per cent for women.

Although the research was conducted in the US, British academics believe that the phenomenon also affects men this side of the Atlantic.

Adrienne Burgess, of the Fatherhood Institute think-tank, said: ‘Men have always wanted children. It is just that in the past many men, wanting to be responsible, waited until they felt financially ready to support a family.

‘That becomes less of a problem when they have a working partner who is often earning as much if not more than them.’