Why Are Women Living 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 women live longer than men? What is the reason has this advantage gotten larger as time passes? There isn't much evidence and we're only able to provide some answers. Although we know that there are biological, psychological and environmental factors which play a significant role in women who live longer than men, we don't know how much each factor contributes.

It is known that women live longer than males, regardless of weight. But, this is not because of certain 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. We can see that all countries are over the line of parity diagonally. This means that a newborn girl from every country could anticipate to live longer than her brother.

This chart illustrates that, although there is a women's advantage in all countries, the differences across countries can be substantial. In Russia women live 10 years longer than men. In Bhutan the difference is just half each year.

__S.17__
__S.19__
In wealthy countries, the longevity advantage for women was smaller
Let's take a look at how the female longevity advantage has changed in the course of time. The next chart plots male and female life expectancy at birth in the US between 1790 and 2014. Two distinct features stand out.

First, اوضاع الجماع there is an upward trend. Women and men living in America are living longer than they used to a century ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

Second, اوضاع الجماع there's a widening gap: The female advantage in terms of life expectancy used to be quite small however, it has increased significantly during the last century.

You can verify that these principles are also applicable to other countries with data by selecting the "Change country" option on the chart. This includes the UK, France, and Sweden.