Women get progressively happier in retirement — possibly because so many are widowed by then

Women are more miserable than men for almost their entire lives and are happier only after the age of 85, according to a large NHS survey.

It found that women get progressively happier in retirement before overtaking men in their ninth decade. Psychiatrists say that this may be because so many are widowed by then.

Growing numbers of Britons are reporting consistent unhappiness, the Health Survey for England found, with women more likely to report severe problems at almost every age.

Twenty-eight per cent of women aged 16-24 have mental health problems bad enough to count as a disorder, compared with 16 per cent of men, the survey of 8,000 people found. While the gender gap narrows between 25 and 34, when 18 per cent