Why Do Women Live Longer Than Men

Fra Enneawiki
Spring til navigation Spring til søgning

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 how is this difference growing in the past? The evidence is sketchy and we're left with only partial answers. We recognize that biological, behavioral and environmental factors play a role in the fact that women live longer than men; however, العاب زوجية we do not know how strong the relative contribution of each of these factors is.

In spite of the weight, we know that at a minimum, the reason women live so much longer than men however not as in the past, is to do with the fact that several fundamental non-biological factors have changed. These factors are changing. 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 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 above the diagonal line of parity. This implies that a baby girl in all countries can be expected to live for longer than her older brother.

This chart is interesting in that it shows that although the female advantage is present everywhere, العاب زوجية cross-country differences are large. In Russia women live 10 years more than males. In Bhutan the difference is less that half a year.

__S.17__
__S.19__
The female advantage in life expectancy was smaller in rich countries that it is today.
Let's look at how the female advantage in terms of longevity has changed over time. The chart below illustrates the male and female life expectancies at the birth in the US from 1790 to 2014. Two things stand out.

The first is that there is an upward trend. Men and women in the United States live longer than they did a century ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

Second, the gap is growing: Although the advantage of women in life expectancy was once extremely small It has significantly increased over time.

It is possible to verify that the points you've listed are applicable to other countries with data by clicking the "Change country" option in the chart. This includes the UK, France, and Sweden.