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

　　These days, it seems the ladies are being beaten to it by their menfolk.

　　According to research, men are getting broodytoo. And what is more, single men are more likely to dream of having children than women.

　　The experts believe it’s all down togreater equality. Lead researcher Helen Fisher, of Rutgers University, in New Jersey, said: 'Men today are more like [the female archetype] 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 granted.’

　　‘Now those things are within reach and they are grabbing 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 unattachedmen aged 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.’

　　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。

　　但如今男人们似乎比女人们更心急。

　　调查显示，越来越多的男人急于要小孩。而且单身男人会比女人更想要小孩。

　　专家们认为这都是因为男女更加平等的缘故。新泽西罗格斯大学的首席研究员海伦费雪说：“今天的男人们是几代人中最具女性特征的。他们想要孩子，也更想早点稳定下来。”

　　费雪女士接着告诉《星期日泰晤士报》说：“女性对人生和感情关系的态度发生了转变，这让事情变得复杂起来。这种转变主要是由大量女性走入职场引起的。”

　　“女性从工作中获得了自信、金钱和经验，实现了自我价值，她们想得到那些男人们一直以来习以为常的东西。”

　　“现在这些东西触手可及，她们正在尽力得到它们。”

　　该调查是由婚恋网站Match.com进行的，共采访了5199位在美国的单身男女。

　　该调查发现，年龄在21岁到34岁之间的未婚男子中有51%想要小孩；同年龄段的单身女子中想要小孩的只占46%。年龄更大一些的男人们也比女人更想要小孩：年龄在35岁到44岁之间的单身男人中有27%想要小孩，而同年龄段的女人只有16%想要小孩。

　　尽管该调查是在美国进行的，但是英国学者认为，在大西洋彼岸的英国，情况也是一样的。

　　父性研究所智囊团中的阿德里安娜伯吉斯说：“男人们一直想要孩子。只是以前很多男人要承担养家的责任，所以他们一直等到有经济实力了才会要孩子。”

　　“但是如果他们的另一半有工作，并且赚得至少和他们一样多，‘养家’就不是什么问题了。”

　　Vocabulary:

　　drag one's heels: 故意拖延，做事拖拖拉拉，很不情愿

　　broody: wanting very much to have a baby（急于生孩子的）

　　be down to somebody/something: 由……引起（或造成）

　　unattached: not married or involved in a romantic relationship（未婚的；单身的；未恋爱的）