The Office for National Statistics says its research has found that men and women both report enjoying the happiest times of their lives between ages 65 and 74.

This ‘golden’ period comes just after most people stop working and pensions kick in with the average age for stopping work 64.7, says ONS.

The data body has released the ages for some of the key milestones in adult life. These include:

• The average age of divorce is 45 (46.9 for men and 44.5 for women) - 6 years higher than 20 years ago.
• The average age to provide care for loved ones is 57.
• The proportion of people providing care peaks for women at 56 and for men at 59. At that point one in four women and one in six men are carers.
• The average age to become a grandparent is 63 with many caring for grandchildren  

Sarah Coles, personal finance analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown, commented: “The days of growing older quietly and predictably are well and truly over. Nowadays we’re divorcing and remarrying in our 40s, becoming carers to our parents in our 50s, taking the childcare reins in our 60s, and then caring for our partners in our 70s and 80s.

“Unfortunately, we’re also reaching financial stability later in life, so in many cases there’s only the briefest of pauses between climbing the mountains of early adulthood, and slipping down the slopes of older age. It means we can’t afford to wait for the ideal moment before we start squirrelling money away for the future.

“It’s not all doom and gloom as we get older though. When we hit our 60s and early 70s we’re less likely to be trapped in unhappy marriages, we get to experience the joy of hands-on grandparenting, we’re less likely to be bored by a dull and predictable retirement, and we’re happier than at any other time in life.”

• The ONS document is available here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/milestonesjourneyingthroughadulthood