LANCASHIRE'S women are among the happiest in the UK, according to a report released this week.

But with only 52 per cent of the county's women saying they are experiencing true happiness, there's still plenty of work to be done.

Yoghurt brand Onken conducted a survey of more than 1,000 women over six months, asking them how happy they were and what made them happy.

Answers included everything from "having good health, good families and enough money to enjoy them" to "a sleepy cat, a cup of tea, my favourite book and the whole afternoon with nothing to do but read".

But despite having more freedom and choice than ever before, many women complained they fell short of happiness.

What recurred again and again in the women's answers was that it wasn't employers, partners or peer groups behind the problem - it was pressure put on by themselves stopping them from feeling content.

A worrying 66 per cent of women admitted it was pressure from themselves that got them down.

Another 23 per cent said they felt pressure from other women, 16 per cent from friends and 14 per cent from their husband or partner.

The findings don't come as too much of a surprise for life coach Dorothy Osborne, of Beacon Learning and Development.

"This feeling of unfulfillment is one aspect of modern life. There's more depression, anxiety and mental health problems around nowadays, it's not just a woman's issue, it's a global one," she said.

"It's hard to sum up what happiness is because it means different things for different people," she continued.

"But a lot of women do feel under pressure. While liberation for women was a great thing, there is this sense now that you have to be the perfect wife and mother as well as having a successful career.

"As a Lancashire woman I agree that we're probably happier than most.

"After all, we do live in one of the best counties in the country."

The women were also asked about their attitudes to life, health, food and enjoyment.

Three in five women claimed they would be happier if they could change something about their lives.

Physical appearance came top, with 62 per cent saying they would be happy if they weighed less, looked younger and could change something about their facial appearance.

Nine per cent wanted to be more confident, seven per cent wished for better health, three per cent wanted better prospects and two per cent said they would be happier if they were financially secure.

Another 38 per cent said improving work-life balance and sorting out their financial situation would make them happy.

Forty six per cent of women questioned said they felt under pressure to be a "perfect" mother and 21 per cent admitted they were suffering in the unrealistic quest to "have it all".

A spokesman for Onken said: "We know that today's women are under a lot of pressure in different areas of their lives but what came as a surprise was just how much of that is driven by self-judgement.

"We wanted to look into what makes women happy and encourage them to enjoy life rather than judge themselves. It's about time women let themselves off their own hooks."

A similar study, released last week, found people in England rated their satisfaction with life at an average of 7.3 out of 10.

Government researchers found responses varied according to occupation, with professionals seeming happier than pensioners, unskilled workers and unemployed