Prof Sir Michael Marmot, who led the research, said that the over-50s in general had become less happy with their lives over the past four years.

But he said that women in particular tended to be more unhappy as they grew older because they had outlived their husbands and their children had grown up and moved away.

‘Older women are more likely to be living lives of loneliness because men die earlier,’ he said…

Women were also disproportionately affected by the difficulties of having to care for sick relatives – something which was revealed to take a significant toll on wellbeing.