Women to be the major breadwinners in a quarter of families by 2030

However, within a decade they are likely to be the ones making big household decisions about money.

Analysts based their findings on the growing financial muscle of women.

More are going through university, childcare provision is improving and a booming service industry is providing unprecedented opportunities.

The Future Foundation said if current trends continued, the 14 per cent of homes where women are the main earner will nearly double by 2030.

At the same time, men will increasingly hand over the decision-making to women.

The report said one in five men now make the big choices, down from 22 per cent in the early 1990s.

By contrast, the number of women who have the final say has gone up from 10 to 12 per cent.

This means by the end of the next decade, the proportion of women with the decisive power will be higher than that of the men.

Women in their 20s are also likely to overtake men in the earnings race.

Women under 30 earn 96 per cent of men's pay. They are likely to overtake men by 2015.

Overall, women earn on average £1,080 a month against £1,486 for men. The main reason for the gap is when women have children they commonly give up work or limit their hours to devote time to their families.

The Foundation said: "We are seeing the emergence of a generation of women who are better educated, more ambitious and more financially competent than any before them."

Fifty years ago, the report said, women were largely ignorant of money, and many did not even know how much their husband earned.

But in another 50 years, the roles may have reversed.