...is that women have more natural needs than men.

(I used to bring this up in the comments but decided to also make a post)

UPDATE: the initial version of this post contained a major math flaw that vastly exaggerated the results; I'm fixing it. Shame upon everyone who upvoted without noticing, but on me first and foremost. In my defense, was very tired and sleepy when did the calculations.

Health.gov: Nutritional Goals for Age-Sex Groups Based on Dietary Reference Intakes and Dietary Guidelines Recommendations

In the age group 4-8, long before puberty, boys start needing greater amount of calories and dietary fiber than girls; in age group 9-13, they also require more linoleic acid; in age group 14-18, the calorie intake gap skyrockets to at least 22 percent (realistically 55); boys start requiring greater amount of proteins than girls, and roughly half of vitamins and micro-elements, with sole, sole exception of iron. This difference keeps existing for the rest of their lives, with sole exception in microelements being calcium, women's nutritional need of which "outperforms" men's in the age span of 50-70 (when the "iron gap" diminishes).

Now, let's integrate the calories, for the reference country of Great Britain, with life expectancies of 79(m) and 83(f).

We get the lifetime-average daily calorie need for men at 2110, and for women at 1672, which accounts for daily 26 percent greater nutritional need for men than for women, or 20-percent greater need in a lifetime (since men don't live as long).

International Student estimates food expenses in UK at £25 to £30 per week, which gives us about £13 per 1000 calories (this is where I screwed up - confused weeks and days) £1.86 per 1000 calories, or 19 thousand additional pounds (or 25 thousand US dollars) spent on food by men but not by women in a lifetime in UK, just to stay as alive and healthy as their female counterparts.

For comparison, in 2015, HuffPo has estimated that women spend around 18 thousand US dollars in a lifetime on necessities associated with periods and birth control (including chocolate). For our reference country of Great Britain, and many other countries with mandatory national health insurance, the major component of this amount - the Pill, accounting for $11,400 - is covered by predominantly male taxpayers. HuffPo itself mentions that around 20 percent of women don't use oral contraceptives, which drops the estimate for "average" woman to $9,120; it is also worth mentioning that the amount of sexless marriages in the US is estimated at 20 million, and that women who need oral contraceptives for the purposes of health and not contraception - are exceptional. The estimate of $25 per month worth of the Pill also seems vastly exaggerated - this forum, for example, puts the estimate for France around 10 Euros (including doctor visitation), or around 12 USD - which I can also confirm for Eastern Europe and which drops HuffPo's estimate roughly to 11 thousand USD.

Worth mentioning that although absence of the Pill and sanitary pads is uncomfortable and, in extreme cases, causes health complications, unlike starving, it will not kill you in 3 to 5 days, which makes its inclusion in essential necessities right next to food too generous.

In 2011, Parents.Com has estimated that the top estimate of full set of prenatal, delivery-related and post-partum hospital care in the US was around 9 thousand US dollars per birth - which is indeed a necessity comparable to men's greater need for food by its impact.

But if we do get generous and include contraceptives and pads, it still seems that women "out-consume" men naturally (assuming two babies per woman - which is generous), until we take into account physical activity, referring to this additional source. Moderately active lifestyle gives around 23 thousand pounds of "food expenses gap" instead of 19, or 30 thousand dollars. And I'd say it's probably an underestimation, because men much more often have to perform physical work, so assuming an average man and an average woman both lead more-or-less moderately active lifestyle - is generous. Although, these dietary needs don't apply to pregnancy and lactation; so maybe these two factors cancel each other out. Also, let's not forget that the calculations take into account life expectancy gap, so annual "gender food gap" is still around 30 "percent-of-percentage" greater than lifetime gap (26 versus 20 percent). Putting it simply, if you live longer, you need to support yourself with more necessities, but you also have more time to earn for them.

So, this is your "bonobo paradise", this is your road to the Matriarchy. Make women pay for men's additional needs, give men universal food discount on the basis of their sex - and gender roles will swap in a generation, and grocery stores will be visited solely by men and maybe very few single women. Very quickly, men will start taking care of monitoring household's food supplies, preparing food, and eventually end up being responsible for the vast majority of domestic chores - assigning a "stay-at-home dad" role to the man of the house will become beneficial for the family. (Or maybe the entire society will simply go extinct; that's possible too)

Until then, career, success and wages are literally men's essential means of survival.

(mic drop)

Update and important addition: I tried to find a single nation that went through introduction of ration stamps accounting for sex differences. Failed to find even one. Let me know if you have any relevant sources.

Update: compare this to currently implemented money-pumping explored in the "Benefits Gap" post.

Update: in response to /u/silvertail8 :

"Nice post! Are men and women equal in terms of emotional needs as well? (Just curious!)"

I have no idea what "emotional needs" are, but it's worth mentioning that women's hormonal background naturally protects them from the major contributor to gender mortality gap, which is cardiovascular disease. The key predictor of cardiovascular disease is stress, which also causes its other predictors - such as smoking, alcoholism, substance abuse, and high blood pressure.