Mums in Plymouth are the happiest in the country, while the unhappiest live in London.
Researchers found mothers who live in and around the Devon naval city have found an almost perfect balance between work and family life.
They also enjoy more quality time with their children, have close family living nearby and feel able to call on friends or neighbours during times of need. It seems that Plymouth mums also work less hours and are able to walk their kids to school as opposed to having a torturous drive through heavy traffic.
Second in the list of places with the happiest mums was the university city of Cambridge, followed by the upmarket seaside resort of Brighton. The Welsh capital Cardiff was fourth and another university town, Oxford, was fifth.
Newcastle, one of the cities hit hardest in the credit crunch and a current unemployment hotspot, came second in the list of homes to unhappy mums.
Yesterday a spokeswoman for OnePoll.com, who commissioned the research,said:
"Mums in Plymouth seem to have the best of everything. They live in a nice part of the country where not only do they have coast nearby, but some of the nicest countryside to enjoy some quality time with their children. Plymouth is also a relatively small city compared to London, which could mean it still has a community feel, something you would be hard pushed to find in the capital."
The study, of 2,000 mums, took into account all aspects of family life including time spent with kids, hours worked, if any, whether their job involved any pressure and whether they felt their job impacted on family life. Researchers also asked mums to rate their happiness on a scale of one to ten
It emerged that while mums in Devon enjoy a decent quality of life, those in the capital find life much harder.
In Plymouth the average happiness rating was just under eight and a half out of ten, with the national average at 7.4. London mums rated their happiness as just three out of ten.
When they were asked about their work-life balance 93 per cent of the mums in Plymouth answered either 'excellent' or 'good', but only 71 per cent of those in the capital said the same thing. Mothers in the south west also said they got to spend an average of nine hours a day with their children, while the average London mum managed just four hours.
They were also more likely to have a part-time job which resulted in little or no stress and they are rarely forced to work from home to keep up.
The study revealed the average London mum is more likely to be working full-time, leaving her little time to try and snatch a few minutes of precious time with the children once she gets home. She is also more likely to face a gruelling drive through rush-hour traffic, and will often work from home - even after a long day at the office.
And she is more likely to have to pay for childcare when it is needed rather than rely on friends and family.
BRITAIN'S HAPPIEST MUMS
1. Plymouth
2. Cambridge
3. Brighton
4. Cardiff
5. Oxford
6. Edinburgh
7. Bristol
8. Southampton
9. Norwich
10. Swansea
BRITAIN'S UNHAPPIEST MUMS
1. London
2. Newcastle
3. Leicester
4. Portsmouth
5. Sheffield
6. Glasgow
7. Leeds
8. Wolverhampton
9. Birmingham
10. Liverpool
January 2009
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