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 live longer than men, and تحاميل مهبلية why has this advantage increased in the past? The evidence is sketchy and we're left with only partial answers. Although we know that there are biological, psychological, and environmental factors which all play a part in the longevity of women over men, we don't know the extent to which each factor plays a role.

In spite of the precise number of pounds, we know that at a minimum, the reason women live longer than men but not previously, has to have to do with the fact that a number of key non-biological factors have changed. These are the factors that are changing. Some are well known and relatively straightforward, like the fact that men smoke more often. Certain 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. As you can see, all countries are above the diagonal parity line ; which means that in every country that a baby girl can be expected to live longer than a newborn boy.1

This chart is interesting in that it shows that while the female advantage exists in all countries, global differences are significant. In Russia women have a longer life span than men. In Bhutan the gap is just half each year.

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In the richer countries, the women's advantage in longevity was previously smaller.
Let's look at how female longevity advantage has changed over time. The following chart shows the male and female life expectancies when they were born in the US from 1790 until 2014. Two points stand out.

There is an upward trend: Men as well as women in the US live much, much longer today than a century ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

The gap is increasing: While the advantage of women in life expectancy used to be tiny It has significantly increased over time.

It is possible to verify that these principles are also applicable to other countries with data by selecting the "Change country" option on the chart. This includes the UK, France, and Sweden.