Claim:
Women need more sleep than men.
Rating:
Mixture ( About this rating? )
What's True:
Women do appear to sleep more than men, though the difference is not as stark as internet users have stated. The difference has been measured in minutes rather than hours. …
What's Undetermined:
… However, scientists do not fully understand whether this discrepancy between the sexes is due only to environmental and societal factor or sleep disruption caused by hormonal and emotional fluctuations. Also, there is as yet no evidence to show that women's need for more sleep is caused by the wiring of their brains, or the way their bodies produce hormones. In fairness, science about the specificities of female bodies is still in its infancy.
For months in 2024, a video claim circulated online that women need a lot more sleep than men ( archived ):
This claim had stoked passionate discussions on TikTok and across social media platforms, including X ( archived ), Reddit ( archived ) and Instagram ( archived ):
https://www.instagram.com/therapyproject/reel/C4NTj9iio8v/
In truth, research on sex differences regarding sleep needs was scarce as of this writing, but what had been studied suggested that women did need to sleep more than men, though the reasons for that were poorly understood. The difference, however, was measured in minutes rather than hours.
A widely cited 2013 U.S. sociological study of nearly 73,000 people between 2003 and 2007 showed that, on average, women slept around 11 minutes more than men, though that disparity varied significantly with age and stages of life. For example, the difference in sleep between young, single and childless men and women was about five minutes, with women getting more sleep. That difference rose to 28 minutes for partnered, childless couples, also in favor of women, and it hovered around 26 to 27 minutes in favor of women when the participants were partnered with young children. For men and women who were single parents alone with children, that difference was about 21 minutes. However, as children grew, the gap shrank. The only category in which men slept more than women was the older, single and childless group.
This study – which did not examine physiological causes for this difference — suggested that perhaps women needed more sleep than men because they were more tired. Indeed, the authors argued, societal expectations are such that women may need more time to rest. For example, other studies indicated that the leisure time of women dropped more sharply than men's when family responsibilities increased. Simply put: Whether those women worked outside the home, they spent more time on children and house chores than men, and enjoyed less downtime than them.
Physiological Differences?
What is true is that women sleep more poorly than men, according to several studies. They wake up more and are more prone to insomnia. The reasons for this are many, and change with the time of life.
In the premenstrual time each month and during pregnancy , women are more likely to develop anxiety and depression — as well as restless leg syndrome during pregnancy — which fuel insomnia. Women wake up more at night to support children emotionally and physically, a paper showed in 2008. Female hormones also fluctuate more than those of men, and can disrupt the circadian rhythm over the course of a menstrual cycle, a 2007 study concluded . Later, in menopause, women often experience hot flashes and are at increased risk of sleep apnea , both of which disrupt sleep. When it comes to sleep problems, clear differences exist between the sexes.
Those who shared that claim, however, argued that the gap in sleep needs had more to do with physiological causes. Several of them said that women's brains work harder than men's during waking hours, for example. Others said that the hormone production and metabolic function in women required that they spent more time sound asleep. But while those hypotheses may make intuitive sense to some, there was little research to support them. This isn't surprising, because as National Geographic reported in March 2024, " scientists are finally studying women's bodies ," a notion that has launched a form of collective reflection by way of memes on TikTok and other platforms ( archived ):
Sources:
Baker, Fiona C., and Helen S. Driver. 'Circadian Rhythms, Sleep, and the Menstrual Cycle'. Sleep Medicine , vol. 8, no. 6, Sept. 2007, pp. 613–22. ScienceDirect , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2006.09.011 .
Burgard, Sarah A., and Jennifer A. Ailshire. 'Gender and Time for Sleep among U.S. Adults'. American Sociological Review , vol. 78, no. 1, Feb. 2013, pp. 51–69. DOI.org (Crossref) , https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122412472048 .
Jehan, Shazia, et al. 'Sleep and Premenstrual Syndrome'. Journal of Sleep Medicine and Disorders , vol. 3, no. 5, 2016, p. 1061.
Krishnan, Vidya, and Nancy A. Collop. 'Gender Differences in Sleep Disorders'. Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine , vol. 12, no. 6, Nov. 2006, pp. 383–89, https://doi.org/10.1097/01.mcp.0000245705.69440.6a .
McKeever, Amy. Scientists Are Finally Studying Women's Bodies. This Is What We're Learning. 14 Mar. 2024, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/womens-health-breakthroughs . https://archive.is/V8IGC.
'Menopause - Menopause'. Merck Manual Consumer Version , https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/women-s-health-issues/menopause/menopause . Accessed 1 July 2024.
Miller, Yvette D., and Wendy J. Brown. 'Determinants of Active Leisure for Women with Young Children—an "Ethic of Care" Prevails'. Leisure Sciences , vol. 27, no. 5, Oct. 2005, pp. 405–20. DOI.org (Crossref) , https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400500227308 .
Mirer, Anna G., et al. 'Sleep-Disordered Breathing and the Menopausal Transition among Participants in the Sleep in Midlife Women Study'. Menopause (New York, N.Y.) , vol. 24, no. 2, Feb. 2017, pp. 157–62. PubMed , https://doi.org/10.1097/GME.0000000000000744 .
'Pregnancy & Sleep: Common Issues & Tips for Sleeping'. Sleep Foundation , 30 Oct. 2020, https://www.sleepfoundation.org/pregnancy .
Venn, Susan, et al. 'The Fourth Shift: Exploring the Gendered Nature of Sleep Disruption among Couples with Children'. The British Journal of Sociology , vol. 59, no. 1, Mar. 2008, pp. 79–97. DOI.org (Crossref) , https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-4446.2007.00183.x .
https://academic.oup.com/sf/article-abstract/79/1/165/2233923 . Accessed 1 July 2024.
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