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Men tend to fall asleep compared to women, who on average take 5-10 minutes to fall. There are various reasons contributing to this gender sleep gap.

Hormones of men, especially testosterone, are relatively constant, which means that they wind down faster. Menstrual cycles, pregnancy, or menopause in women typically interfere with their sleep, with variable levels of estrogen and progesterone disrupting sleep, causing greater pre-sleep arousal and decreased sleep density.

Women are also more prone to anxiety and depression, which are two times more prevalent in women, and thus, the brain is ready at bedtime. Multitasking and caregiving's mental burden are additional emotional rumination that impedes sleep onset.

Moreover, men can have a faster build-up of sleep pressure (adenosine). Although women tend to require a little more total sleep and more deep/REM sleep, they have worse quality sleep and a higher rate of insomnia.

To fill the discrepancy between sleeps, it is possible to improve sleep hygiene, deal with stress, and resolve hormonal problems.