Women tend to live longer than men and maybe being the 'homemaker' of old is partly responsible for this?  Household duties are always in need of being done so women are probably more consistently active on a daily basis (especially after retirement age) in comparison to men.  Does this help contribute to their longevity?

Also, Alzheimers and general cognitive impairment is more prevalent in women than in men.  I am not saying that professional working women won't or can't be subjected to this sad disease but could it be possible that being nothing but a homemaker could, in fact,  contribute to cognitive impairment in later years by way of not having stimulated the brain enough over long periods of time?   Use it or lose it?

Homemaker women? Speaking as one of the original MCPs, it depends on the day, the time of day and the mood.

Sometimes they are a pain in the ass, sometimes they are a gift from heaven . . .no I wouldn't go that far.

Smoking, women didn’t used to. Also, women work these days and still do >50% of housework, plenty stress, so have a fag and a drink. . .and women also die in childbirth occasionally even now.

It is really interesting and educational to spend a couple hours wandering around an old cemetery and reading the gravestones. Merry widows often had 40 years of life free of the old man. Bet this is changing.

Some of this comes from a unit of demographics I did back in ’68, others from just reading, experience etc I had an office in the SW corner of Adelaide for a couple of years, used to walk to the GPO, see people smoking outside the back doors of businesses, nearly all women, only a few blokes. Easy to extrapolate that women will be dying before their menfolk before long if not already.