Four in ten women now earn more than their husbands as family finances shift

The research also found that eight in ten insist on taking charge of household bills and finances.

The findings suggest that today's women have a very different attitude to money from their mothers or grandmothers.

Traditionally men were the main breadwinners, with a husband and wife pooling all their finances.

But now four couples in five have separate banks accounts of some description. As many as one in three have separate current accounts.

A quarter of the 2,000 women over the age of 40 questioned for the survey said they made all the major spending decisions in their family. Only 2 per cent said their husbands were solely responsible.

A quarter of the women said they had put aside an emergency fund without their partner's knowledge, largely because they did not trust them to make the right decisions.

The research, commissioned jointly by savings firm Icesave and Woman & Home magazine, showed that only 12 per cent of women left it to their husbands to manage household bills.

Sue James, editor of Woman & Home, said the survey had revealed a sea change in social attitudes.

"This generation of 40-plus women is clearly very different from the one before," she added.

"They have a new, independent and responsible attitude toward finance. The days when the man of the house was usually in control of the family purse are clearly consigned to history.

"Women are now clearly focused on earning money, as well as both spending and saving it.

"They are increasingly sophisticated in the ways they choose to spend and save."

The research showed that women were doing more than ever to ensure their future financial security.

More than half had opened a savings account and were putting away £200 a month on average.

Nearly 70 per cent said they were investing in a pension, 60 per cent had opened a tax-free Isa and 30 per cent speculated in stocks and shares.

Although younger than the women in the survey, Jayne Cherrington-Cook, 34, typifies the change in attitudes.

As the online editor of a women's magazine, she earns more than her husband, Russell, 37, a constable with British Transport Police.

And, although the couple, from Bexley, South-East London, have a joint bank account, she has also opened her own current account and savings account.

Mrs Cherrington-Cook said she took care of the household bills and mortgage payments.

"If it was left to my husband our mortgage would never get paid," she said.

"It used to be that women married younger to make sure they had someone to provide for them because it wasn't their role to be the breadwinner but women are so much more proactive these days.

"It is part of their identity, which they are reluctant to give up and hand over when they meet their partner."