THREE news pieces, all to do with the ladies, caught my eye this week. It seems that women are outpacing us men – I say that in the same way that an armchair soccer fan with a big gut and two left feet talks about we referring to the England football te

THREE news pieces, all to do with the ladies, caught my eye this week.

It seems that women are outpacing us men - I say that in the same way that an armchair soccer fan with a big gut and two left feet talks about "we" referring to the England football team - in the millionaire stakes.

New research has revealed that there are now 104,000 men - myself and no one I know I could cadge from included - and 68,000 women with at least £1 million of net wealth (pension assets excluded, but that won't make any difference to me).

So men outnumber the ladies - but they are catching up.

The annual growth in the clique of female millionaires - they used to be millionairesses, but I suppose that is a sexist term these days - is around 10.9 per cent compared to 9.7 per cent for men.

For those envious enough to want to know, the average male millionaire is worth £2,963,423 while the figure for females is £1,969,618.

The details make fascinating reading, especially to those of us who have to scan bank statements in overdraft every month.

For those wed to a female millionaire but short of cash themselves, there is bad news. Women in the South East at least think that marriage is no longer necessary in today's society.

Seventy per cent of women, I learn, think that couples today enter into marriage too quickly without thinking it through.

And older women are less inclined to think that marriage should mean one partner for life.

Interestingly, while 42 per cent of women felt that they should support their families financially as much as their partner does, 67 per cent of them said they feel under pressure to earn as much money as men.

There are some, as noted already, who positively strive to earn more than men.

The other bit of news - which I may get into trouble for reporting - is the claim made after a new survey that women are grumpier than men in the morning.

And they are not only grumpier more often than men but they are grumpier for longer.

It's barely believable, I know, but only 14 per cent of women questioned said they never wake up in a bad mood - which means a whopping 86 per cent admitted they do. A quarter of men said they are always happy and chirpy in the morning.

Thirteen per cent of the ladies who admitted a capacity for being in a black mood after a night's rest said they stayed that way for two to four hours.

Some 41 per cent of women believe lack of sleep is the main reason for grumpiness in the morning.

So now they can make up for it by spending an extra hour in bed on Sunday when the clocks go back.

I make no further comment on this potentially dangerous topic.

If I were ever to be grumpy in the morning, I would moan about public relations people who are over familiar.

They are the ones who are complete strangers to me but insist on sending a press release - as they did this week - opening with "Hi John, hope you are well."

They don't care about me and I don't care about them, especially when the release is about the Christmas lights switch on in Regent Street.