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 makes women live more than men do today and how is this difference growing over time? The evidence is limited and we're only able to provide limited answers. Although we know that there are biological, psychological as well as environmental factors which all play a part in women's longevity more than males, صبغ الشعر بالاسود we aren't sure what percentage each factor plays in.

It is known that women live longer than men, regardless of their weight. But it is not because of certain biological or non-biological factors have changed. These factors are changing. Some are well known and relatively straightforward, like the fact that men smoke more often. There are others 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. We can see that all countries are above the diagonal parity line - this means in all countries that a baby girl can be expected to live for longer than a new boy.1

This chart shows that, even though women enjoy an advantage across all countries, differences between countries can be substantial. In Russia women live for 10 years longer than males. In Bhutan the difference is less that half a year.

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In wealthy countries, the advantage of women in longevity was not as great.
Let's look at how the female advantage in longevity has changed over time. The next chart plots the male and female lifespans at birth in the US between 1790 and 2014. Two areas stand out.

There is an upward trend. Both genders in the United States live longer than they did 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 life expectancy used to be very modest however, صبغ الشعر بالاسود it has increased significantly in the past century.

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