Gender sleep gap: Men get three hours more sleep than women every night
![The study found that women get significantly less sleep than men every night. [Photo: Getty]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/PeAAKWRoF.5nl8i9T1AMfg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media-mbst-pub-ue1.s3.amazonaws.com/creatr-uploaded-images/2019-07/9932bfd0-aebe-11e9-bfbf-4e7c50bbd5f8)
According to a recent study, women get three hours less sleep than men per night, equating to a shocking 1,095 hours every year.
The poll, which surveyed 2,000 Brits, found that as many as half of UK women feel “constantly sleep deprived”.
Lack of sleep can contribute to feelings of grumpiness and lack of concentration, according to the NHS.
It also plays a part in more serious health problems from obesity to heart disease.
READ MORE: Why sleeping with the fan on might be bad for your health
There is a significant difference in quality of sleep between men and women. A third of British women say they have a broken night’s sleep every night, compared to just two in 10 men.
While a number of people blame bad sleep on stress, the study found that almost a quarter (22%) said it was because of their partner’s snoring.
The impact reaches further than we might first think, too. Women feel exhausted during the week and have little time to recover with lie-ins during the weekends.
Some 21% of women surveyed also said that lack of sleep impacts their self-esteem, with some women claiming it makes them feel “ugly”.
READ MORE: Why do we need to sleep with blankets in the heat?
Lack of sleep is a serious matter. So serious, in fact, that it can limit life expectancy, according to the NHS.
Bensons For Beds sleep expert, Stephanie Romiszewski, says there are many ways to help with lack of sleep.
“Keep a regular wake time. For every human body, any kind of consistent behaviours will affect how efficient your body works.” She says.
Getting up at the same time every day will help our bodies regulate how we eat, sleep and feel. Our bodies react positively to “predictable” sleep routines.
READ MORE: How to sleep during a heatwave
Period pains have a large impact on how we sleep, too, but getting yourself into a routine can improve the pain.
Stress, computers and taking work home is often to blame for our overactive minds. That’s why it’s important to make your sleep wind down time your “you time”, according to Romiszewski.
“Don’t see it as things you must do in order to sleep – it doesn’t work like that anyway. The more you enjoy yourself and feel happy and content before bed, the better the sleep quality.”
“So, do the things you love and enjoy, spend time around the people that make you feel good. Good quality wake time leads to good quality sleepy time.”
