Women in Britain's Sex and the City generation are pursing the "Carrie dream" and looking for "Mr Big" to look after them financially in future. According to research released today, almost one million women have set their sights on a knight on a white horse, banking on finding a rich man to take care of them.

The Sex and the City Generation: Fashionistas not Cashonistas report, from Friends Provident and The Next Big Thing, found that nearly one in five single women aged 25 to 45 are looking for Mr Big to solve their money worries, gambling on their futures both "figuratively and literally". 

More than a quarter (27%) of these Carries own at least 30 pairs of shoes, yet just 23% of them have a personal pension, while 33% own their own home.  According to the report, this Sex and the City generation of singletons is living the episode in which Carrie Bradshaw realises: "I literally will be the old woman who lived in her shoes."

A generation of women "living for today" has also been unveiled by the report.  It found that "many women are spending too much on the day to day, not investing enough in the future via savings or pensions, and not putting enough effort into managing their careers". Of the singletons questioned, 41% saved less than £200 in the last year, yet 36% spend more than £50 a month on clothes and accessories and 24% spend more than £200 a year on beauty treatments.

This pursuit of beauty could all be part of the plan to find Mr Big.  More than half of the single women asked had invested time and effort in improving their looks, with 57% claiming they had done so in the past three years. 

Christine O'Grady, senior retail media relations executive at Friends Provident, said: "The Sex and the City generation is playing a dangerous game, gambling with the future.  Just 23% of the single women asked have a pension and 20% have life or health insurance, yet just over a quarter own more than 30 pairs of shoes. 

"Women often have a more sporadic earning pattern than men, and we urge them to take time to look at their finances and think about the future.  Some may be lucky enough to find a knight in shining armour, but for those who aren't, becoming more of a Miranda than a Carrie could help make their dreams a reality."

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