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 is the reason women are more likely to live longer than men? Why is this difference growing over time? The evidence isn't conclusive and we're left with only incomplete answers. Although we know that there are behavioral, biological and environmental variables which all play a part in women living longer than males, we aren't sure what percentage each factor plays in.

We know that women live longer than males, regardless of weight. However, this is not due to the fact that certain non-biological factors have changed. These variables are evolving. 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 that in all countries the newborn girl is likely to live for longer than a newborn boy.1

Interestingly, this chart shows that although the female advantage is present everywhere, country-specific differences are huge. In Russia women live 10 years more than men. In Bhutan the gap is only half a year.

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In countries with high incomes, اضيق وضعية للجماع the women's advantage in longevity was previously smaller.
Let's now look at how the gender advantage in longevity has changed over time. The following chart shows the male and female life expectancy when they were born in the US during the period 1790-2014. Two distinct features stand out.

First, there is an upward trend. Both men and women in the US live a lot, much longer today than a century ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

The gap is increasing: While the advantage of women in life expectancy used to be very small however, it has grown significantly in the past.

By selecting 'Change Country in the chart, you will be able to determine if these two points also apply to other countries that have available data: Sweden, اضيق وضعية للجماع France and the UK.