Why Do Women Live Longer 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 main reason women live longer than men? What is the reason does this benefit increase in the past? We only have a few clues and the evidence isn't sufficient to draw a definitive conclusion. While we are aware that there are behavioral, biological and environmental variables that all play a role in women's longevity more than males, علامات الحمل بولد we aren't sure what percentage each factor plays in.

In spite of the precise weight, we know that at a minimum, the reason women live so much longer than men however not as in the past, is to have to do with the fact that a number of key non-biological factors have changed. These are the factors that are changing. Some are well known and relatively straightforward, like the fact that men smoke more often. Some are more complex. 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. As you can see, every country is above the diagonal parity line - this means in all countries a newborn girl can expect to live for longer than a newborn boy.1

The chart above shows that while the female advantage exists everywhere, the country-specific differences are huge. In Russia women live for 10 years longer than men. In Bhutan there is a difference of only half a year.

__S.17__
__S.19__
In rich countries the advantage of women in longevity used to be smaller
Let's look at how female longevity advantage has changed over time. The chart below illustrates the male and female life expectancy at birth in the US in the years 1790 to 2014. Two specific points stand out.

The first is that there is an upward trend. Men and women 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.

Second, the gap is growing: Although the female advantage in life expectancy was once extremely small It has significantly increased with time.

Using the option 'Change country in the chart, you will be able to determine if these two points apply to the other countries having available data: Sweden, France and the UK.