Why Do 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 much longer than men today, and why is this difference growing over time? The evidence is sketchy and we're only able to provide incomplete answers. We know there are biological, psychological and environmental factors which all play a part in women's longevity more than men, we don't know how much each one contributes.

In spite of how much amount, we can say that at least part of the reason why women live so much longer than men do today however not as in the past, is to have to do with the fact that several key non-biological factors have changed. These variables are evolving. Some are well known and relatively straightforward, افضل شامبو وبلسم like the fact that men smoke more often. Others 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. As you can see, all countries are above the diagonal parity line , which means that in every country a newborn girl can expect to live for longer than a newborn boy.1

The chart below shows that although women have an advantage throughout the world, the differences between countries can be substantial. In Russia women live for 10 years longer than men. In Bhutan the difference is less than half a calendar year.

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In countries with high incomes, the women's advantage in longevity used to be smaller
Let's look at how female longevity advantage has changed in the course of time. The chart below shows male and female life expectancies at the time of birth in the US during the period 1790 until 2014. Two points stand out.

The first is that there is an upward trend. Men and women in the US live a lot, افضل شامبو وبلسم much longer than they did 100 years ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

And second, there is a widening gap: The female advantage in terms of life expectancy used be very small however it increased dramatically over the course of the last century.

By selecting 'Change Country in the chart, check that these two points are applicable to the other countries having available data: Sweden, France and the UK.