Women have never had it so good, with 40 years of feminism bestowing more freedom to work, play and plan a family than ever before.

New figures suggest that the dividend from the women’s movement has run its course, however, with the gender happiness gap closing for the first time.

Life satisfaction for men and women has risen for the fifth year in a row, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. Women have been consistently happier yet the gap between the genders is half what it was in 2012 and is now “statistically insignificant”, the ONS said. It also found higher anxiety levels among women. More than one in five women said they were so worried about something in their lives that