Why Do Women Have Longer Lives 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's the reason women are more likely to live longer than men? And how is this difference growing in the past? There isn't much evidence and we're only able to provide some answers. While we are aware that there are biological, psychological and environmental factors that play an integral role in women who live longer than males, it isn't clear what percentage each factor plays in.

We know that women live longer than men, regardless of weight. But this is not due to the fact that certain non-biological factors have changed. These are the factors that 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, 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 above the diagonal line of parity. This means that a newborn girl in every country can expect to live longer than her brothers.

This graph shows that while there is a female advantage throughout the world, the differences between countries can be substantial. In Russia women live for 10 years longer than men. In Bhutan, the difference is only half a year.

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In rich countries the women's advantage in longevity was smaller
Let's examine how the female longevity advantage has changed in the course of time. The following chart shows the gender-based and female-specific life expectancy at the birth in the US in the years 1790 to 2014. Two points stand out.

The first is that there is an upward trend. Both men as well as women in the US live a lot, much longer today than a century ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

Second, افضل كريم للشعر the gap is getting wider: Although the female advantage in terms of life expectancy was quite small but it has risen significantly in the past.

You can confirm that these principles are also applicable to other countries with information by clicking on the "Change country" option in the chart. This includes the UK, France, and Sweden.