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 more than men do today, and why has this advantage increased over time? The evidence is sketchy and we're left with only limited answers. Although we know that there are behavioral, biological and environmental variables that all play a role in women who live longer than males, it isn't clear how much each one contributes.

We have learned that women are living longer than men, regardless of weight. But, ماذا يحدث بين الزوجين في الحمام بالصور this is not because of certain non-biological aspects 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. As you can see, all countries are above the diagonal parity line - it means that in all nations baby girls can expect to live for longer than a new boy.1

It is interesting to note that while the female advantage exists across all countries, the country-specific differences are huge. In Russia women have an average of 10 years more than men. In Bhutan the difference is just half one year.

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In the richer countries, the female advantage in longevity was smaller
Let's look at how female longevity advantage has changed over time. The chart below illustrates the male and female life expectancy at birth in the US between 1790 until 2014. Two points stand out.

First, there is an upward trend. Women and men in America live longer than they did a century ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

The gap is increasing: While the female advantage in life expectancy was quite small however, it has grown significantly over time.

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