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 is not sufficient to support an unambiguous conclusion. While we are aware that there are biological, psychological, and environmental factors that all play a role in the longevity of women over males, it isn't clear the extent to which each factor plays a role.

In spite of the precise amount of weight, we are aware that at a minimum, the reason women live longer than men do today however not as previously, is to do with the fact that several significant non-biological elements have changed. What are the factors that are changing? Some are well known and relatively straightforward, like the fact that men smoke more often. Others are more complicated. For example, العاب زوجية 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. As you can see, all countries are above the diagonal parity line - this means that in all countries baby girls can expect to live longer than a new boy.1

The chart above shows that although the female advantage exists across all countries, the global differences are significant. In Russia, women live 10 years more than men. In Bhutan there is a difference of just half a year.

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In countries with high incomes, the longevity advantage for women used to be smaller
Let's now look at the way that female advantages in longevity has changed over time. The next chart shows male and female life expectancy at birth in the US from 1790 to 2014. Two distinct features stand out.

There is an upward trend. Both genders living in America are living longer than they were a century ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

The gap is getting wider: Although the advantage of women in life expectancy was very small but it has risen significantly with time.

It is possible to verify that these principles are also applicable to other countries that have information by clicking on the "Change country" option in the chart. This includes the UK, France, and Sweden.