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The young are not having as much fun as the older generation because they are so much in debt, according to a survey.

Ask someone what age group they think is having the best time and most people are likely to say the young.

But the reality is, according to an insurance group, that 18 to 25-year-olds are most likely to be finding life tricky, while those in the over-55 group are having the best time.

Not only are the 18 to 25-year-olds most likely to be lonely and least likely to be in a satisfying relationship, it is also the age group most likely to have financial worries.

Continuing with the inaccurate stereotyping, the UK as a whole believes that the age at which you settle down to care for children and family or start a business is when you are a younger adult aged 26 to 35.

In fact, this seems to be wrong too.

Younger adults were found to be in a period of transition and as likely to be travelling abroad as caring for a family or as likely to be doing something adventurous as to be starting a business.

Settling down and starting a business came later in the middle-aged adults group of 36-55. And the difficulties involved in that mean that age group had the least time for fun, socialising or travelling and were the least happy of the ages.

In contrast, once people hit the 55+ bracket, they seemed to be having the time of their lives.

Generally, they were happy and content, enjoying travel and, when at home, taking an active interest in their community.

"I think you can put the change down to improved health as people get older," said a spokesman for Standard Life, for whom the survey of 2,100 people was taken.

"In previous generations, people retired at the age of 60 and they were expected to know their place and stay in it ... there was more of a stigma attached to doing anything different.

"Now the older generation has more money and is generally healthier. People no longer want to sit at home with their tea - they want to do all the things they couldn't do when they were younger."

In contrast to the increased financial freedom of the over-50s, the young are being overburdened with debt, he told Sky News Online.

"They leave university thousands of pounds in debt and they can't afford to do the things that other generations were able to do at their age."

The report is the latest in the Standard Life 'Death of Retirement' series, part of the active money campaign launched earlier this year.