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

Revision as of 01:26, 13 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 in the present and why have these advantages gotten bigger in the past? There is only limited evidence and the evidence isn't sufficient to draw an informed conclusion. While we are aware that there are biological, behavioral, and environmental factors that play an integral role in women living longer than men, we don't know the extent to which each factor كيفية ممارسة العلاقة الزوجية فى الاسلام (Highly recommended Website) plays a role.

In spite of how much weight, we know that at a minimum, the reason why women live so much longer than men in the present, but not in the past, is to relate to the fact that some important non-biological aspects have changed. These variables are evolving. 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. We can see that every country is over the diagonal line of parity. This means that a newborn girl in all countries can expect to live longer than her brothers.

This chart is interesting in that it shows that although the female advantage is present everywhere, difference between countries is huge. In Russia, women live 10 years longer than males. In Bhutan there is a difference of less than half a calendar year.

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In countries with high incomes, the female advantage in longevity was not as great.
Let's now look at how the female advantage in longevity has changed with time. The next chart plots the male and female lifespans when they were born in the US from 1790 to 2014. Two distinct points stand out.

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

The gap is getting wider: Although the advantage of women in life expectancy was quite small however, it has grown significantly in the past.

By selecting 'Change Country in the chart, you can check that these two points are also applicable to other countries with available data: Sweden, France and the UK.