Why Are Women Living 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 makes women live more than men do today and why is this difference growing over time? There is only limited evidence and the evidence isn't strong enough to make an absolute conclusion. We know there are biological, psychological, and environmental factors which play a significant role in women living longer than males, it isn't clear what percentage each factor plays in.

In spite of how much amount of weight, we are aware that at a minimum, the reason why women live longer than men today however not as in the past, is to do with the fact that a number of fundamental non-biological factors have changed. What are these changing factors? 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. We can see that every country is above the diagonal parity line ; it means that in all nations a newborn girl can expect to live for longer than a newborn boy.1

The chart below shows that while there is a female advantage in all countries, the differences across countries can be substantial. In Russia women live 10 years longer than males. In Bhutan, the difference is only half a year.

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The advantage women had in terms of life expectancy was lower in developed countries than it is now.
Let's look at how the female advantage in terms of longevity has changed over time. The next chart compares the male and كيفية ممارسة العلاقة الزوجية فى الاسلام female lifespans when they were born in the US over the period 1790-2014. Two specific points stand out.

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

Second, the gap is widening: While the female advantage in life expectancy was once quite small however, it has grown significantly over time.

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