WHEN women rule the world was a television show that aired in the United Kingdom but it looks like it is becoming a reality here.

A MasterCard survey has found that 67 per cent of women believe that they control the household's purse strings, compared with 46 per cent last year. The survey was conducted with 200 women and 200 men here between Oct 1, 2009 and Nov 9, 2009.

It also shows that the female purse string holder is typically aged between 31 and 45 (38 per cent of respondents) and is working (84 per cent).

Sourcing engineer Emma Pong, 31, is proof of it. She says that in her household, which consists of her and her husband, at least 80 per cent of the major financial decisions involving housing loan and renovation payments are made by her. She does the calculations and discusses it with her husband, also an engineer in his 30s, but she has the final say.

The survey also revealed that 51 per cent of female decision-makers intended to keep their savings level in the first half of this year the same as in the past six months - and almost 40 per cent of them want to save more.

Also, 57 per cent of these women said that they plan to maintain the same level of expenditure in the first half of this year as in the past six months, while 17 per cent said that they will increase their spending. In terms of priorities, 83 per cent of all respondents put the purchase of white goods as the top priority, followed by dining and entertainment (72 per cent) and fashion and accessories (56 per cent).

Julienne Loh, vice-president and country manager of Singapore MasterCard, said: 'Many families in Singapore are dual-income households where women share the financial responsibility of supporting the family. As such, it's only natural that more women see themselves as the major financial decision-maker in their households.'