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

Revision as of 15:22, 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. Why do women live more than men do today, and why is this difference growing in the past? There isn't much evidence and we're left with only some answers. While we are aware that there are biological, behavioral and environmental factors that play an integral role in women who live longer than men, we don't know what percentage each factor plays in.

It is known that women live longer than men, regardless of their weight. But this is not because of certain biological factors have changed. These variables are evolving. Some are well known and relatively straightforward, like the fact that men smoke more often. Other 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. It is clear that all countries are above the line of parity diagonally. This means that a newborn girl in all countries can be expected to live for longer than her brother.

The chart above shows that, while the advantage for women exists in all countries, global differences are significant. In Russia women live 10 years longer than men. In Bhutan there is a difference of only half a year.

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The advantage of women in life expectancy was much lower in countries with higher incomes than it is now.
Let's now look at how the female advantage in life expectancy has changed over time. The chart below illustrates the male and female life expectancy at the birth in the US from 1790 to 2014. Two points stand out.

First, there is an upward trend. Women and men in America have longer lives than they were 100 years ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

There is an ever-widening gap: female advantage in terms of life expectancy used to be very modest however, افضل كريم للشعر (visit these guys) it has increased significantly over the last century.

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