Women are less happy than they were

Not that long ago we were reported as being extremely happy what with all those equal rights and pay and flexibility in the workplace to help us bring up our families?

Yet new figures from the Office for National Statistics’ well-being series, shows that the happiness gap between the sexes has been all but eliminated.

The ONS suggests the greater “uncertainties” in the world over the last year, linked to Brexit, the refugee crisis and terrorist attacks around the world, including the attacks in Paris and Brussels, are partly to blame.

Women seem to be dogged still by anxiety and self-worth. Women, I would suggest, are working harder than ever. Faced ith a generation of I want-I want children, husbands and partners who don’t all pull their weight in the home, static incomes, job insecurity and constant football on television, there isn’t much levity about.

The sight of crying, hungry children in refugee camps isn’t helping.

ONS say men in the UK are living healthier lives but women’s life expectancy has grown less quickly, with many of them turning to drinking and smoking to relieve stress. In these long, difficult months, with children out of school, there isn’t even a decent Soap like Last Tango in Halifax to relieve the pressure.