It's a cause of wonder (and dismay) to many but scientists have gone out and done the hard work to figure out why women spend more time in the bathroom than men.
In general, queues for public restrooms are longer for women than for men but no one could exactly figure out why it takes women longer to come back from using the bathroom at places like restaurants, sports stadiums or concert venues.
A new study by researchers from Ghent University in Belgium has exposed the two main causes of longer bathroom queues for women.
It turns out the actual design of the bathroom has a lot to do with it. Each stall takes up more space than urinals and, as such, for the same total area, women get a loss less "usable" bathroom space. Overall, the study found, an average toilet area can have 20 to 30 per cent more toilets for men than for women (as male toilets have a mix of urinals and closed stalls). Male bathrooms, overall, can accommodate more people at any given time.
The second reason has to do with the act of going to the toilet in itself.