Do kicks generally do more damage than punches? If so, why?

depends on the "style" some kicks are just a check, to inter cede, those big round house ones look good but are easy to dodge or block
there are some punches, "three Inch" and Classic Boxing that are devastating . and the hand is faster than the feet usually
Thai Boxing has a bad ass system of short kicks often uysing the shin, that ca end the action
like every other thing,
Scissors Paper, ROck