Why Do Women Have Longer Lives 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's the reason women live longer than men? Why has this advantage gotten larger as time passes? There isn't much evidence and we have only incomplete solutions. While we are aware that there are behavioral, biological and environmental factors which play a significant role in the longevity of women over males, we aren't sure how much each factor contributes.

We are aware that women are living longer than men, regardless of weight. But this is not due to the fact that certain non-biological aspects have changed. What are these new factors? Some are well known and relatively straightforward, like the fact that men smoke more often. Some are more complex. For افضل كريم للشعر 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 we can see, all countries are above the diagonal parity line - it means that in all nations baby girls can expect to live longer than a newborn boy.1

The chart below shows that even though women enjoy an advantage across all countries, differences between countries can be significant. In Russia women live 10 years longer than men, while in Bhutan the difference is just half an hour.

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The advantage women had in life expectancy was smaller in countries with higher incomes than it is today.
Let's look at how the female advantage in longevity has changed with time. The next chart plots the life expectancy of males and females at birth in the US from 1790 to 2014. Two specific points stand out.

There is an upward trend. Men and women in America live longer than they were a century ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

The gap is growing: Although the female advantage in life expectancy was once tiny, it has increased substantially with time.

By selecting 'Change Country in the chart, you are able to check that these two points are also applicable to the other countries having available information: Sweden, France and افضل كريم للشعر the UK.