Young women are happier than men ...except about pay

YOUNG women are happier than men because they have more friends and have more purpose to their lives, an official survey shows.

They also tend to be better educated and more ambitious than their male counterparts

However, they tend to be more anxious and are less happy with what they earn, according to a report by the Office for National Statistics.

Its latest analysis of how Britons aged 16 to 24 feel about themselves was produced as part of David Cameron’s £2million-a-year drive to try to measure national well-being.

It found that young women are more likely than young men to respond positively when asked if the things they do are worthwhile – 81 per cent to 77 per cent.

But while 66 per cent of the men surveyed said their anxiety level was low, only 63 per cent of girls did so, and they were also less likely to be satisfied with their health.

However, ONS analysts said that men under-report symptoms of depression and anxiety and are often ‘particularly reluctant’ to talk about emotional issues.

Young women are more likely than boys to have someone they can rely on – 86 per cent against 78 per cent. The report found that having friends makes it easier to cope with problems and ‘having a stronger support network may mean that young women report higher levels of wellbeing than might be expected from

‘Stronger support network’

their lower levels of satisfaction with their health and higher levels of anxiety and depression’.

Girls are better educated than boys, the ONS found. This is important, it said, because ‘education is positively associated with life satisfaction – it equips young people for the future and my contribute to better emotional and physical health’.

Among 19-year-olds, nearly 87 per cent of women have good GCSEs compared with 81 per cent of men, and 59 per cent had good A-levels compared with 51 per cent of men, the report said. Women also tended to get better degrees.

However, while 55 per cent of the men surveyed were satisfied with their household income, only 49 per cent of the women were. More young women than men found it difficult to get by on their income, and fewer said they were living comfortably within their means. The differences may indicate that young women are more ambitious, both financially and in terms of lifestyle, than men.

‘At first glance young men and women seem to have similar levels of personal well-being,’ the ONS said. ‘But the similarities in personal well-being mask differences in many of the measures for young people t hat can affect t heir well-being.’

The Prime Minister is keen to measure ‘well-being’ because he is seeking a way beyond traditional economic measures to find out how well people are doing.