Best years of your life? They're behind you when you hit 30

While many rate their teenage years as their least enjoyable, the average Briton believes their 20s provide the most fulfilling moments in life.

From leaving home to getting married and having children, life's third decade is notable for the most memorable events.

However, men and women have different ideas about their key moments in life: for men, it's marriage, but for women it is having a baby.

Researchers asked 2,000 adults to rank life-defining milestones in order of importance and asked them at what age they had achieved them.

The teenage years were cited by 34 per cent as the most miserable. The main reasons given were a lack of independence (24 per cent), uncertainty over looks and body shape (23 per cent) and money worries (21 per cent).

The 20s were the most fulfilling period for 29 per cent of respondents. The average person leaves home aged 20, establishes a career at 23, gets married at 25 buys their first home and has their first child at 27.

Independence and financial security are seen as the things that bring most happiness (30 per cent) ahead of being in a stable relationship with a partner (25 per cent) and having plenty of time to spend with family and friends (22 per cent).

But from there it is downhill for some with the average age for divorce being 34 and a mid-life crisis most likely to occur at 41. Common key landmarks later in life are the birth of a first grandchild at 54 and early retirement at 59.

The survey, commissioned by EA Games, found 40 per cent of women chose having a child as the biggest highlight of their life, only 25 per cent of men shared their view.

More men - 26 per cent - said getting married was the most fulfilling moment, compared to 21 per cent of women.

Men emerged as more career-minded with 11 per cent citing their first job as the most important milestone compared to five per cent of women.

And while five per cent of men cited their first kiss as their life's highlight, only two per cent of women did.

After marriage and childbirth, the two sexes did agree that leaving home is the third biggest milestone in life (17 per cent of men and 15 per cent of women).

Buying a home was the fifth most important life event for men (cited by eight per cent) and fourth for women (nine per cent). On average, people get their first pet at the age of 11, enjoy their first kiss at 14 and get their first job at 17.

Romance apparently blossoms properly at the age of 18 when they both fall in love and have sex for the first time.

But heartbreak is close behind, typically first occurring at the age of 20.

Regionally, the research found Londoners marry and have a child at an older age (29 and 28 years old) than the national average while the Welsh do so the youngest, at 24 and 25 respectively.