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 longer than men? Why has this advantage gotten larger in the past? We only have partial evidence and the evidence isn't sufficient to reach an absolute conclusion. We know there are biological, psychological and environmental variables that play an integral role in women's longevity more than men, we don't know how much each factor contributes.

It is known that women live longer than men, regardless of their weight. However this is not because of certain biological or non-biological factors have changed. These factors are changing. 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, افضل كريم للشعر 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 every country is 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 there is a women's advantage across all countries, differences between countries could be significant. In Russia women live 10 years longer than men; in Bhutan the gap is just half each year.

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In wealthy countries, the women's advantage in longevity was smaller
Let's see how the female longevity advantage has changed over time. The following chart shows the life expectancy of males and females when they were born in the US over the period 1790-2014. Two specific points stand out.

There is an upward trend. Men as well as women in the US live much, much longer than they did a century ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

Second, the gap is getting wider: Although the advantage of women in life expectancy was tiny It has significantly increased in the past.

Using the option 'Change country' on the chart, you will be able to verify that these two points are also applicable to the other countries with available data: Sweden, France and the UK.