Why Women Live Longer Than Men

Everywhere in the world women live longer than men - but this was not always the case. The available data from rich countries shows that women didn't live longer than men in the 19th century. What is the reason women live longer than men, and why is this difference growing over time? We only have a few clues and the evidence is not strong enough to make an absolute conclusion. We know there are biological, psychological as well as environmental factors which play a significant role in women's longevity more than men, we do not know what percentage each factor plays in.

In spite of the precise number of pounds, we know that at least part of the reason why women live so much longer than men but not in the past, is to have to do with the fact that some significant non-biological elements have changed. These variables are evolving. Some are well known and relatively straightforward, like the fact that men smoke more often. Some are more complex. For example, there is evidence that in rich countries the female advantage increased in part because infectious diseases used to affect women disproportionately a century ago, so advances in medicine that reduced the long-term health burden from infectious diseases, especially for صبغ الشعر بالاسود survivors, ended up raising women's longevity disproportionately.

Everywhere in the world women tend to live longer than men
The first chart below shows life expectancy at birth for men and women. We can see that all countries are above the diagonal line of parity. This means that a newborn girl from every country could anticipate to live longer than her brothers.

The chart above shows that the advantage of women is present everywhere, country-specific differences are huge. In Russia women live 10 years longer than men; in Bhutan the difference is just half a year.

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The female advantage in life expectancy was smaller in rich countries than it is now.
Let's look at the way that female advantages in terms of longevity has changed over time. The chart below illustrates the men and women's life expectancies when they were born in the US during the period 1790 to 2014. Two things stand out.

There is an upward trend. Men and صبغ الشعر بالاسود women in the United States live longer than they were a century ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

Second, the gap is getting wider: Although the advantage of women in life expectancy used to be tiny however, it has grown significantly over time.

Using the option 'Change country by country' in the chart, confirm that the two points are applicable to the other countries with available information: Sweden, France and the UK.