Difference between revisions of "Why Do Women Have Longer Lives Than Men"

Revision as of 16:46, 11 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 is this difference growing in the past? The evidence isn't conclusive and we're left with only limited answers. While we are aware that there are behavioral, biological, and environmental factors which all play a part in women living longer than men, we do not know what percentage each factor plays in.

We know that women live longer than men, regardless of weight. But, ماذا يحدث بين الزوجين في الحمام بالصور this is not because of certain biological or 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. There are other issues that are more intricate. 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 over the line of parity diagonally. This implies that a baby girl in all countries can anticipate to live longer than her brothers.

The chart below shows that even though women enjoy an advantage everywhere, cross-country differences can be substantial. In Russia women live for 10 years longer than men. In Bhutan, the difference is less that half a year.

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The advantage of women in life expectancy was much lower in countries with higher incomes that it is today.
Let's now look at how the female advantage in terms of longevity has changed over time. The next chart plots male and female life expectancies at birth in the US over the period 1790-2014. Two distinct points stand out.

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

Second, there's a widening gap: The female advantage in terms of life expectancy used to be very small however it increased dramatically during the last century.

Using the option 'Change country from the chart, you will be able to confirm that the two points are also applicable to other countries with available information: Sweden, France and the UK.