Why 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 makes women live much longer than men today and how is this difference growing in the past? There is only limited evidence and the evidence is not strong enough to make a definitive conclusion. While we are aware that there are biological, psychological, and environmental factors that play an integral role in women living longer than men, صبغ الشعر بالاسود we do not know the extent to which each factor plays a role.

In spite of the precise amount, we can say that at least part of the reason women live longer than men but not in the past, has to relate to the fact that certain fundamental non-biological factors have changed. What are the factors that are changing? Some are well known and relatively straightforward, 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 line of parity - this means that in all countries the newborn girl is likely to live longer than a new boy.1

It is interesting to note that, while the advantage for women exists across all countries, the global differences are significant. In Russia, women live 10 years more than men. In Bhutan there is a difference of less that half a year.

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The advantage of women in terms of life expectancy was lower in countries with higher incomes than it is today.
Let's examine how the advantage of women in life expectancy has changed over time. The next chart shows male and female life expectancy at birth in the US between 1790 and 2014. Two areas stand out.

There is an upward trend. Men and women in the US have a much longer life span longer than they did 100 years 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 but it has risen significantly over time.

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