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 so much longer than men today and why has this advantage increased over time? The evidence isn't conclusive and we only have incomplete answers. While we are aware that there are biological, psychological and environmental variables that all play a role in the longevity of women over men, we don't know how much each factor contributes.

Independently of the exact number of pounds, we know that at least a portion of the reason women live so much longer than men in the present and not previously, has to do with the fact that a number of important non-biological aspects have changed. These variables are evolving. Some are well known and relatively straightforward, like the fact that men smoke more often. Others 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. We can see that every country is above the line of parity diagonally. This means that a newborn girl from any country can be expected to live for longer than her brother.

The chart below shows that while there is a female advantage in all countries, the differences across countries are often significant. In Russia women live 10 years longer than men. In Bhutan there is a difference of less than half a calendar year.

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The advantage women had in life expectancy was smaller in countries with higher incomes as compared to the present.
Let's take a look at how the female longevity advantage has changed over time. The following chart shows male and female life expectancy when they were born in the US over the period 1790-2014. Two distinct features stand out.

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

There is an increasing gap: The female advantage in terms of life expectancy used be extremely small, but it grew substantially during the last century.

You can verify that the points you've listed are applicable to other countries with information by clicking on the "Change country" option on the chart. This includes the UK, France, and كيفية ممارسة العلاقة الزوجية فى الاسلام Sweden.