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. Why do women live longer than men in the present and why has this advantage increased in the past? The evidence isn't conclusive and we only have some solutions. Although we know that there are biological, psychological and environmental factors that play an integral role in women living longer than men, we don't know what percentage each factor plays in.

In spite of the precise amount, we can say that at least a portion of the reason why women live so much longer than men in the present but not previously, is to be due to the fact that certain fundamental non-biological factors have changed. What are these changing factors? 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 , which means that in every country that a baby girl can be expected to live for longer than a new boy.1

The chart above shows that although the female advantage exists everywhere, the country-specific differences are huge. In Russia women live 10 years longer than males. In Bhutan the difference is just half a year.

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In the richer countries, the female advantage in longevity used to be smaller
Let's take a look at how the female longevity advantage has changed over time. The following chart shows the male and female life expectancy at the time of birth in the US during the period 1790-2014. Two distinct points stand out.

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

Second, the gap is getting wider: العاب زوجية Although the female advantage in life expectancy used to be very small however, it has grown significantly with time.

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