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 reason why women are more likely to live longer than men? And how the advantage has grown over time? We only have a few clues and the evidence isn't strong enough to make an absolute conclusion. While we are aware that there are biological, psychological, and environmental factors that all play a role in women's longevity more than men, we don't know how much each one contributes.

In spite of the amount of weight, we are aware that a large portion of the reason women live longer than men do today but not previously, has to relate to the fact that several significant non-biological elements have changed. These are the factors that are changing. Some are well known and relatively straightforward, like the fact that men smoke more often. Certain 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 every country is above the diagonal line of parity. This implies that a baby girl from any country can expect to live longer than her brother.

This graph shows that even though women enjoy an advantage throughout the world, the differences between countries can be significant. In Russia women live 10 years longer than men. In Bhutan the gap is just half a year.

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The female advantage in life expectancy was less in the richer countries than it is today.
Let's now look at how the advantage of women in life expectancy has changed over time. The chart below shows male and female life expectancy at birth in the US in the years 1790 to 2014. Two specific points stand out.

There is an upward trend. Women and men living in America are living longer than they did 100 years 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 extremely small but it has risen significantly over time.

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