Why Do Women Live Longer Than Men

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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 have a longer life span than men? What is the reason is this difference growing in the past? The evidence isn't conclusive and we have only incomplete answers. While we are aware that there are biological, ابر التخسيس psychological, and environmental factors that play an integral role in the longevity of women over men, we do not know the extent to which each factor plays a role.

In spite of the precise weight, we know that a large portion of the reason women live longer than men today however not as previously, has to be due to the fact that several 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 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. It is clear that all countries are over the line of parity diagonally. This means that a newborn girl in every country can be expected to live for longer than her brothers.

This chart shows that, while there is a female advantage across all countries, ابر التخسيس differences between countries can be substantial. In Russia women live 10 years longer than men; in Bhutan the gap is less than half one year.

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The advantage for women in life expectancy was smaller in developed countries that it is today.
Let's take a look at how the female longevity advantage has changed in the course of time. The next chart shows male and female life expectancy when they were born in the US between 1790 and 2014. Two things stand out.

The first is that there is an upward trend. Both genders in the United States live longer than they used to a century ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

Second, the gap is increasing: While the female advantage in life expectancy used to be extremely small but it has risen significantly in the past.

You can confirm that these points are also applicable to other countries with information by clicking on the "Change country" option on the chart. This includes the UK, France, and Sweden.