Finding a man and settling down is the top priority for two-thirds of women born in 1979, a survey has found.

Women approaching 30 might once have modelled themselves on the feisty, ambitious heroine of the film Working Girl - willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead in business.

But it seems today's 30-year-olds are more likely to get their inspiration from hopeless romantic Bridget Jones.

Finding a man and settling down is the top priority for two-thirds of women born in 1979, a survey has found.

The poll of 1,800 women approaching the milestone birthday found that 70 per cent considered it to be the right time to put their relationships and personal lives ahead of their careers.

More than 80 per cent said they thought it was the perfect age to get married.

But while love was a priority, only one in five of the women polled said they expected to be more attractive to the opposite sex, the Turning 30 report for Elle magazine found.

A third of the women thought they would be more unappealing and the same proportion said entering their fourth decade 'filled them with dread'.

The survey bucks the trend of the past decade, which has seen women prioritise their career well into their thirties. This has led to a rise in women having their first child in their late 30s and early 40s.

The number of live births to mothers over 40 almost doubled between 1997 and 2007, from 12,914 to 25,350.

Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, author of Why Women Mean Business, said it was good to redefine goals. 'Women don't necessarily want to get to the top,' she said.

'They want to be excellent at everything they do, as mother, daughter, wife, girlfriend, professional and volunteer.'