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's the reason women are more likely to live longer than men? Why does this benefit increase as time passes? The evidence isn't conclusive and we only have partial solutions. We know there are behavioral, biological and environmental variables which all play a part in women's longevity more than men, we do not know how much each factor contributes.

We are aware that women are living longer than men, regardless of weight. But it is not because of certain biological factors have changed. What are these factors that have changed? Some are well known and relatively straightforward, like the fact that men smoke more often. Others are more complicated. 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 اضيق وضعية للجماع 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 اضيق وضعية للجماع men and women. It is clear that every country is above the line of parity diagonally. This means that a newborn girl from any country can anticipate to live longer than her younger brother.

This chart illustrates that, although there is a women's advantage everywhere, cross-country differences are often significant. In Russia women have an average of 10 years more than men. In Bhutan the gap is just half one year.

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In wealthy countries, the advantage of women in longevity was previously smaller.
Let's examine the way that female advantages in terms of longevity has changed over time. The following chart shows the men and women's life expectancies at the time of birth in the US from 1790 to 2014. Two specific points stand out.

There is an upward trend. Women and men in America 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 advantage of women in terms of life expectancy was very small but it has risen significantly over time.

You can check if these are applicable to other countries with data by clicking the "Change country" option in the chart. This includes the UK, France, and Sweden.