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. Why do women live longer than men and how does this benefit increase in the past? The evidence is sketchy and we only have limited answers. We know that behavioral, biological and environmental factors play a role in the fact that women are healthier than men; However, we're not sure what the contribution of each factor is.

In spite of how much number of pounds, we know that at a minimum, the reason why women live so much longer than men today but not previously, is to do with the fact that certain significant non-biological elements have changed. These are the factors that are changing. Some are well known and relatively straightforward, كيفية إقامة علاقة بالصور like the fact that men smoke more often. Others 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 over the diagonal line of parity. This implies that a baby girl in every country can anticipate to live longer than her brother.

The chart above shows that although the female advantage exists across all countries, the country-specific differences are huge. In Russia, women live for 10 years longer than males. In Bhutan there is a difference of less that half a year.

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The female advantage in life expectancy was less in rich countries as compared to the present.
Let's look at how female longevity advantage has changed over time. The chart below shows male and female life expectancy at the time of birth in the US between 1790-2014. Two distinct points stand out.

There is an upward trend. Men and women in the United States live longer than they used to 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 extremely small, it has increased substantially with time.

It is possible to verify that these points are also applicable to other countries that have data by clicking the "Change country" option on the chart. This includes the UK, France, and Sweden.