Difference between revisions of "Why Do Women Live Longer Than Men"

Revision as of 13:07, 12 January 2022

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 how is this difference growing in the past? We only have partial evidence and the evidence isn't strong enough to make an informed conclusion. We know there are behavioral, biological and environmental variables which all play a part in women's longevity more than males, we aren't sure how much each factor العاب زوجية contributes.

In spite of the precise amount of weight, we are aware that at least part of the reason women live longer than men but not previously, has to be due to the fact that several fundamental 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. Others are more complicated. For العاب زوجية 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 over the line of parity diagonally. This means that a newborn girl from every country could anticipate to live longer than her older brother.

This chart shows that, even though women enjoy an advantage in all countries, the differences across countries are often significant. In Russia women live 10 years more than men. In Bhutan the gap is less than half a calendar year.

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The advantage women had in life expectancy was much lower in the richer countries than it is now.
Let's take a look at how the female longevity advantage has changed in the course of time. The chart below illustrates the gender-based and female-specific life expectancy at birth in the US between 1790 to 2014. Two specific points stand out.

First, there is an upward trend. Men and women living in America are living longer than they were 100 years ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

Second, the gap is growing: Although the female advantage in life expectancy used to be quite small, it has increased substantially over time.

If you select the option "Change country by country' in the chart, you will be able to check that these two points are also applicable to the other countries with available data: Sweden, France and the UK.