UK: Women’s last secret: money scares them

Article here. Excerpt:

'When Hilary Black ditched her boyfriend two years ago she didn’t exactly expect sympathy – she was, after all, breaking his heart – but she assumed her girlfriends would rally round, assuring her she’d done the right thing.

Instead her decision was met with gasps of surprise and barely disguised disapproval. The boyfriend concerned was rich, you see. Very rich. “One of my friends actually said, ‘Are you crazy? This guy could take care of you for life!’” says Black.

“These were thirtysomething women who would never publicly advocate marrying for money yet they implied that I was making a mistake. It was interesting: it seemed a sign that women have a more complicated relationship with money than they let
“The idea of self-reliance is out there but it hasn’t caught on in the quick, easy way you might have thought it would. When I started talking to my friends about this I discovered that there is a lot of confusion.
...
“Boys are told you can be a train driver or an astronaut but essentially you have to get out there and earn a living. Girls are now told they can be an astronaut too, but if they want to they can also stay home with the children. They don’t know what they want to do or what they’re meant to do: there’s a lot of uncertainty behind the confidence.”'