Single women tend to be happier according to survey

For as long as anyone can remember, the 'single woman' has been stereotyped as... well in all honesty, dejected. Take Bridget Jones for example; the stereotypical single woman who, i'm sure many can relate to, isn't necessarily an accurate representation. 

So forget everything you know about the 'pathetic single woman' stereotype, because it turns out, single women are actually a lot happier than their 'in a relationship' counterparts. 

A survey that looked at women in serious heterosexual relationships came to the conclusion more women prefer to be single than men do.

The data showed that 61% of single women are happy with their relationship status, whereas only 49% of single men are.

A preference for being single was seen to increase with age, with women over 45 scoring the highest. The data also showed that 32% of single women aged between 45 and 65 said they were very happy without a partner, with just 19% of men.

Experts suggest that this is due to the amount of physical and emotional labour that women tend to put into their relationship, which is typically significantly more than men. 

Professor Emily Grundy told The Telegraph that "There's evidence that women spend longer on domestic tasks than men and I think they also do more emotional work - so they still do more housework and cooking and things as well as more emotional labour."

She also pointed out that women tend to be more social, depending less on a romantic partner. "Women tend to be better at having alternative social networks and other confidantes, whereas men tend to rely quite heavily on their wives for that and have fewer other social ties."