Shunning the priorities of their mothers' and grandmothers' era, today's women seem to be making a clear-cut choice: career first, family second.

In fact, recent research done by the New York think tank the Center for Work-Life Policy found that almost half, or 43 percent, of Generation X women are childless.

The women surveyed, who ranged in age between 33 and 46 years old, were born during the height of the feminist movement. And they grew to consider motherhood an obstacle to having a successful career. So they've put off having children -- or avoided it entirely.

The strategy seems to be working: 19 percent of those who participated in the study said they earn more than their husbands or partners and 74 percent characterized themselves as ambitious.

Though a number of women aren't interested in having children, many do want to be moms but just find it too hard to balance raising kids with work. And many are afraid that once they get pregnant, their jobs will be affected.

Lead author Lauren Leader-Chivee studied 3,000 female and male college graduates in the U.S. and also looked at their counterparts in Britain.

"We have found very similar trends in both countries," she said.

Kim Crundall, a 44-year-old nutritionist who has followed a similar path as the women surveyed, said the findings make sense.

"Having children changes the entire dynamic," Crundall told the Herald Sun. "Once they arrive, everything starts revolving around somebody else. It's not selfish, it's more ... that I don't feel particularly maternal so I don't feel I'm missing anything."