It was the feminist dream of the 1960s – a world in which men and women share the load equally.

But it seems the fairer sex has all but abandoned the struggle. According to research published today, most men want a traditional wife – and women are often only too
happy to oblige.

In turn, it claims that the husband women most desire is a ‘retrosexual’ – meaning they are more hunter gatherer than a ‘metrosexual’ stay-at-home father.

History repeating: Wedding bliss in the 1950s

More than 1,500 adults were asked about the attributes that they ‘most valued’ in a spouse or partner. Their answers could have been taken from a manual to happy married life in the 1950s.

At the top of the men’s list was ‘taking care of the home’, followed by cooking, cleaning and great parenting.

Only 16 per cent said they value ‘financial stability’ in a woman – which means most men put domestic bliss above a wife who calls the shots in the boardroom.

The research from.the Yorkshire Building Society found many women are making equally conventional choices.

Nearly 40 per cent said ‘financial stability’ is one of the most important qualities in their husband and they rank gardening as more important than an ability to cook or clean.

Tanya Jackson, corporate affairs manager at the building society, said: ‘A lot of women used to think they wanted a metrosexual man.

‘But then they realised they were fed up with a man who spent longer in the bathroom than they did.

‘Many women now feel they actually want a hunter-gatherer and they will look after their man in return.’

Figures from the Office for National Statistics bear out the claims. More than 2.1million women say they do not work because they are ‘looking after their family or home’.

Only 193,000 men gave the same answer – a figure which has fallen by 6 per cent over the past year.