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's the reason women have a longer life span than men? Why is this difference growing as time passes? The evidence is sketchy and we're left with only partial answers. Although we know that there are biological, psychological and environmental factors which play a significant role in the longevity of women over males, it isn't clear what percentage each factor plays in.

We are aware that women live longer than males, regardless of weight. However this is not due to the fact that certain non-biological factors have changed. What are these factors that have changed? Some are well known and 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 all countries are over the diagonal line of parity. This means that a newborn girl from any country can be expected to live for longer than her older brother.

The chart below shows that even though women enjoy an advantage in all countries, the differences across countries can be significant. In Russia women live 10 years longer than men; in Bhutan the difference is less than half one year.

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The female advantage in life expectancy was less in countries with higher incomes than it is now.
Let's now look at how the gender advantage in terms of longevity has changed over time. The following chart shows the gender-based and female-specific life expectancy at the time of birth in the US during the period 1790 to 2014. Two specific points stand out.

There is an upward trend. Women and اوضاع الجماع men in America live longer than they were a century ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

Second, there's a widening gap: The female advantage in life expectancy used be extremely small but it increased substantially during the last century.

You can confirm that these principles are also applicable to other countries that have information by clicking on the "Change country" option on the chart. This includes the UK, France, and Sweden.