Study: ‘Women and Children First’ a Myth

Tuesday, 31 July 2012 | by Pat's Picks

Not only is chivalry dead, says the LA Times, “it was buried at sea long ago.” A group of Swedish researchers wanted to see if the old “women and children first” adage actually holds up under historical scrutiny. So they looked at 18 shipping disasters dating back to the 1850s. Turns out “every man for himself” is more accurate—data shows crew members (61%) and captains (44%) were the most likely to survive, followed by male passengers (37%) and then women (27%) and children (15%).

SOURCE: LA Times