Fewer responsibilities, financial worries and more time to yourself leads to contentment previously unknown in earlier life.

According to the report from the teenage years until 40 happiness declines. It levels off until 46 and then starts to increase until peaking at 74.

Scientists from Germany and America regularly questioned 21,000 men and women how happy they were with their lives providing a scale from one to seven - seven indicated complete contentment.

Teenagers in their late teens marked themselves at around 5.5 which fell to around 5 by age 40

At 74 happiness averaged at 5.9.

The report, published in the journal Social Indicators Research, said this could be due to older people being more appreciative.

It concluded: "Compared to younger individuals, older people tend to place a greater emphasis on emotional aspects of social interactions and are likely to remember the emotional content of their experiences."

Bringing up a family, buying a house and creating a career added to the stresses experienced by those in their twenties and thirties.

The change in happiness was apparently most pronounced amongst British respondents. German men and women reported relatively stable levels of satisfaction throughout their lives.

Dr Carlo Strenger, from Tel Aviv University, said: "If you make fruitful use of what you have discovered about yourself in the first half of your life, the second half can be the most fulfilling.

"Most people can anticipate a second life, if not a second career."

一项最新研究表明，人在74岁时最幸福。

人到了74岁时，肩上的责任变少，经济压力减轻，属于自己的时间增多，由此会感到前所未有的满足。

根据这项报告，人们的幸福感在十几岁到四十岁这一阶段逐渐下降，到46岁前趋于平稳，46岁后开始增强，到74岁时达到顶峰。

来自德国和美国的科学家对2.1万名男性和女性进行了定期访问，让他们按照1到7的等级标准来衡量自己的幸福感，7代表“十分满足”。

按照受访者的评分，十八九岁的青年的幸福评级约为5.5，到了40岁时跌至5左右。

到了74岁时，这一数值升至5.9。

这一在《社会指数研究》期刊上发表的报告指出，这可能是因为年龄大的人更懂得珍惜。

该报告得出结论：“与年轻人相比，年龄较大的人更看重社会互动的情感层面，更易记住以往经历中的情感成分。”

对于二三十岁的人来说，养家、买房和立业增加了他们的生活压力。

这一幸福感的变化在英国受访者中最为显著。德国男性和女性的幸福感在人生的整个阶段相对较稳定。

来自特拉维夫大学的卡罗?斯特伦格博士说：“如果你在人生的前一阶段能充分发挥利用自己的潜能，你的后半生将会十分富足。”

“（人到中年后），在事业上开辟出一片新天地或许有点困难，但大多数人可以拥有人生的第二春。”