Why 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 in the present, and why has this advantage increased over time? The evidence is limited and we're only able to provide partial solutions. We know that biological, behavioral and environmental factors all contribute to the fact that women have longer life spans than men, however, العاب زوجية we aren't sure how much the influence of each of these factors is.

Independently of the exact amount of weight, we are aware that at a minimum, the reason why women live so much longer than men in the present however not as previously, is to have to do with the fact that certain key non-biological factors 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 diagonal line of parity. This means that a newborn girl from every country could be expected to live for longer than her older brother.

This chart is interesting in that it shows that although the female advantage exists in all countries, global differences are significant. In Russia, women live 10 years longer than men. In Bhutan there is a difference of less that half a year.

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The advantage women had in life expectancy was much lower in the richer countries as compared to the present.
Let's now look at how the advantage of women in life expectancy has changed over time. The next chart plots the life expectancy of males and females at birth in the US over the period 1790-2014. Two points stand out.

First, there's an upward trend: Men and women in the US have a much longer life span longer today than a century ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

Second, the gap is increasing: While the female advantage in terms of life expectancy was quite small but it has risen significantly over time.

You can check if these points are also applicable to other countries with data by clicking the "Change country" option on the chart. This includes the UK, France, and Sweden.