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 how has this advantage increased over time? The evidence is limited and we're only able to provide partial solutions. Although we know that there are biological, behavioral as well as environmental factors which play a significant role in women who live longer than males, it isn't clear how much each one contributes.

We are aware that women live longer than men, regardless of weight. However it is not due to the fact that certain 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 implies that a baby girl from any country can anticipate to live longer than her brother.

It is interesting to note that, while the advantage for women exists everywhere, the difference between countries is huge. In Russia women live 10 years longer than men. In Bhutan the gap is less that half a year.

__S.17__
__S.19__
The advantage of women in life expectancy was much lower in countries with higher incomes as compared to the present.
Let's now look at how the advantage of women in longevity has changed with time. The following chart shows male and female life expectancy at birth in the US from 1790 to 2014. Two aspects stand out.

There is an upward trend: Men and women in the US live much, much longer than they did 100 years ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

And second, there is an increase in the gap between men and women: female advantage in life expectancy used to be extremely small however, it has increased significantly over the last century.

You can check if these principles are also applicable to other countries with data by selecting the "Change country" option in the chart. This includes the UK, ماذا يحدث بين الزوجين في الحمام بالصور France, and Sweden.