What women want varies with age

Research has found that younger women today seek a tall, dark, handsome, ambitious and rich stranger while the older ones value more deep-rooted qualities such as kindness, reliability and friendship when it comes to their idea of the perfect partner.

A survey of 9,000 women aged 16 to 75 found that wealth and ambition in a man were the two favourite qualities for younger women, with half admitting finding someone prepared to wine and dine them was top of their wish-list, reports the Telegraph.

Parenting website Netmums and Saga magazine, who conducted the survey, found three times more young women were interested in how attractive their partner is.

In contrast, older women wanted a man who can offer them kind words.

"Its interesting to see what each generation of women looks for in a man," said Siobhan Freegard, co-founder of Netmums.

"Younger women really seem to want it all looks, money, ambition and honesty whilst older women value the more traditional traits such as kindness, humour and reliability," she said.

Top of the wish-list for young women came honesty. However, for the older generation honesty is not the best policy.

Ambition came in second place, with 21 percent saying that they were after a man who had his sights set high.

"The results provide some intriguing insights into real relationships across the generations," said Emma Soames, editor at large of Saga Magazine.

"It is surprising, however, that fewer place importance on honesty than their younger counterparts," she said.