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 main reason women live longer than men? And why has this advantage gotten larger as time passes? The evidence is limited and we only have incomplete answers. We know there are biological, psychological and صبغ الشعر بالاسود environmental variables that play an integral role in women living longer than males, it isn’t clear what percentage each factor صبغ الشعر بالاسود plays in.
We have learned that women are living longer than men, regardless of weight. However, this is not because of certain biological factors have changed. These factors are changing. Some are well known and relatively straightforward, like the fact that men smoke more often. There are others that are more intricate. 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 all countries are above the line of parity diagonally. This means that a newborn girl from every country could anticipate to live longer than her older brother.
This chart shows that, although women have an advantage throughout the world, the differences between countries are often significant. In Russia women live 10 years longer than men. In Bhutan the gap is just half a year.
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The advantage women had in life expectancy was much lower in developed countries that it is today.
Let’s examine the way that female advantages in longevity has changed with time. The chart below shows male and female life expectancy at the time of birth in the US between 1790 until 2014. Two points stand out.
There is an upward trend. Men and women in the United States live longer than they were a century ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.
Second, the gap is getting wider: Although the advantage of women in life expectancy was once very small but it has risen significantly with time.
Using the option ‘Change country in the chart, determine if these two points are also applicable to the other countries with available data: Sweden, France and the UK.
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Why women are more likely to live longer than men? 4 years ago