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. Why do women live longer than men in the present, and why have these advantages gotten bigger over time? The evidence is sketchy and we only have partial answers. While we are aware that there are behavioral, biological and environmental variables that play an integral role in the longevity of women over men, we do not know the extent to which each factor Wiki.ttitd.io/index.php/Why_Do_Women_Live_Longer_Than_Men plays a role.

In spite of the precise number of pounds, we know that at least a portion of the reason why women live longer than men today but not in the past, has to relate to the fact that a number of significant non-biological elements have changed. What are these factors that have changed? 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. It is clear that all countries are over the diagonal line of parity. This implies that a baby girl from every country could be expected to live for longer than her brother.

This chart illustrates that, although women have an advantage across all countries, differences between countries can be substantial. In Russia women live 10 years longer than males. In Bhutan the gap is less that half a year.

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In rich countries the advantage of women in longevity used to be smaller

Let’s examine how the advantage of women in longevity has changed with time. The chart below illustrates the male and female life expectancies at the birth in the US in the years 1790 to 2014. Two things stand out.

First, there is an upward trend. Both men as well as women in the US have a much longer life span longer than they did 100 years ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

The gap is getting wider: Although the advantage of women in life expectancy used to be very small It has significantly increased over time.

By selecting ‘Change Country by country’ in the chart, you are able to confirm that the two points also apply to other countries that have available information: Sweden, France and the UK.