It ought to be the best time in history to be a woman - in what is meant to be an age of equal rights, equal pay and the flexibility to combine work and family.

But new figures from what has been nicknamed the UK’s "happiness index", show that, despite greater opportunities in virtually every aspect of life, women are effectively no longer the happier sex.

Previous findings from the Office for National Statistics "well-being" series, championed by David Cameron, have shown women consistently reporting higher average levels of happiness than men.

But the latest batch of data shows that the happiness gap between the sexes has now been all but eliminated.