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 is the reason women live longer than men? And how does this benefit increase as time passes? There is only limited evidence and the evidence isn't sufficient to support an informed conclusion. We know that behavioral, biological and environmental factors all play a role in the fact that women are healthier than men; however, we aren't sure what the contribution to each of these variables is.

We have learned that women are living longer than males, regardless of weight. However, this is not due to the fact that certain non-biological aspects have changed. These factors are changing. Some are well known and صبغ الشعر بالاسود relatively straightforward, like the fact that men smoke more often. There are other issues 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. It is clear that every country is above the line of parity diagonally. This means that a newborn girl in all countries can be expected to live for longer than her younger brother.

This graph shows that although there is a women's advantage in all countries, the differences across countries can be substantial. In Russia, women live 10 years more than males. In Bhutan the difference is less that half a year.

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In wealthy countries, the female advantage in longevity was smaller
Let's examine how the female longevity advantage has changed over time. The chart below shows men and women's life expectancies when they were born in the US from 1790 to 2014. Two specific points stand out.

There is an upward trend. Both genders 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.

Second, the gap is getting wider: صبغ الشعر بالاسود Although the female advantage in terms of life expectancy was quite small but it has risen significantly with time.

If you select the option "Change country in the chart, you can confirm that the two points are applicable to other countries with available information: Sweden, France and the UK.