British mothers 's hedonistic activities

　　They are women who like to smoke, drink wine, are worried about their weight and enjoy going to bars and clubs to find eligible men. Yet this is not Britain's twenty or thirtysomethings – but their mothers. 　

　　Statisticians report that the increasing divorce rate has led to a new social group of more mature women unwilling to drift into old age. They are, instead, turning to the more hedonistic activities previously typified by the younger generation to make up for the time they felt was lost in domestic chores and endless family commitments.

　　Single women in their 50s were found to drink wine and beer as regularly as their daughters' generation – both around 40 per cent – and are as partial to spirits, which are favoured by a quarter of both the age groups questioned.

　　One in five older women said they regularly went to bars and clubs in the hope of meeting someone, fewer than the 40 per cent of thirtysomethings, though one in four women in their 50s said they smoked compared to one in five of the younger generation.

　　The report was published the day after researchers at Edinburgh University announced that men in their late 30s and 40s who were on their own were more likely to have fewer friends, poorer diets and suffer from depression than married men.

　　Their findings painted a grim picture of many single mature men's lives with them living in barely furnished houses due to their dislike of going shopping, or having to take their mothers with them to the supermarket to supervise their purchases.

　　But the study of their slightly older female peers found a far more adventurous lifestyle. Jacqueline Smith, the head of TSB LLoyd 50+, which commissioned the survey of 9,114 women by Tickbox, said: "The footloose fiftysomethings are clearly embracing singledom with the same enthusiasm as the younger generation and making the most of it."

　　They were more likely to work and have their own income than their own mothers and were less intimidated by technology, with a majority knowing how to use the internet and mobile phones.

　　Like single women in their 30s – often referred to as the "Bridget Jones generation" after Helen Fielding's diary-writing heroine – a similar number (11 per cent compared with 17 per cent) said they kept a close network of friends around them as a "surrogate" family for support and socialising.

　　A third were looking to meet new partners through introductions from their friends, 12 per cent through hobbies and by joining societies and the same number through internet dating. Six per cent had joined a dating agency and 13 per cent said they had met or had tried to find a partner while travelling.

　　A quarter of fiftysomethings said they never dieted, compared with 23 per cent of thirtysomethings. But 14 per cent said they dieted constantly – the same as the younger generation – and a third said they felt they should be dieting but never did.

　　The enthusiasm for socialising is attributed to contemporary mature women being less tolerant of unfulfilled marriages, and their desire to make the most of new-found freedom once they have come out of a long relationship.

　　Women are also seen as having more developed emotional skills than male counterparts, enabling them more easily to keep old friendships and make new ones.

　　But the desire to enjoy their new single status meant 49 per cent said they did not want to risk it with a new partner – 10 per cent more than their daughters' generation, nearly two thirds of whom still wanted to settle down.