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 have a longer life span than men? And why does this benefit increase in the past? The evidence is limited and we have only limited solutions. We know there are biological, behavioral and environmental variables that play an integral role in the longevity of women over men, we don't know what percentage each factor plays in.
In spite of the amount, we can say that a large portion of the reason why women live longer than men however not as in the past, has to be due to the fact that certain significant non-biological elements have changed. What are these factors that have changed? Some are well known and relatively straightforward, like the fact that men smoke more often. There are other issues 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 http://wiki.nexus.io/index.php?title=Why_Are_Women_Living_Longer_Than_Men men and women. As we can see, all countries are above the diagonal parity line - this means in all countries a newborn girl can expect to live longer than a newborn boy.1
The chart below shows that although women have an advantage throughout the world, the differences between countries could be significant. In Russia women have a longer life span than men; in Bhutan the difference is less than half one year.
__S.17__
__S.19__
In wealthy countries, the women's advantage in longevity was previously smaller.
Let's examine how the gender advantage in terms of longevity has changed over time. The following chart shows the men and women's life expectancies at the time of birth in the US from 1790-2014. Two aspects stand out.
There is an upward trend. Men and women in America live longer than they were a century ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.
Second, there's a widening gap: The female advantage in terms of life expectancy used to be quite small but it increased substantially during the last century.
When you click on the option "Change country by country' in the chart, you can check that these two points are also applicable to other countries with available information: Sweden, France and the UK.
In spite of the amount, we can say that a large portion of the reason why women live longer than men however not as in the past, has to be due to the fact that certain significant non-biological elements have changed. What are these factors that have changed? Some are well known and relatively straightforward, like the fact that men smoke more often. There are other issues 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 http://wiki.nexus.io/index.php?title=Why_Are_Women_Living_Longer_Than_Men men and women. As we can see, all countries are above the diagonal parity line - this means in all countries a newborn girl can expect to live longer than a newborn boy.1
The chart below shows that although women have an advantage throughout the world, the differences between countries could be significant. In Russia women have a longer life span than men; in Bhutan the difference is less than half one year.
__S.17__
__S.19__
In wealthy countries, the women's advantage in longevity was previously smaller.
Let's examine how the gender advantage in terms of longevity has changed over time. The following chart shows the men and women's life expectancies at the time of birth in the US from 1790-2014. Two aspects stand out.
There is an upward trend. Men and women in America live longer than they were a century ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.
Second, there's a widening gap: The female advantage in terms of life expectancy used to be quite small but it increased substantially during the last century.
When you click on the option "Change country by country' in the chart, you can check that these two points are also applicable to other countries with available information: Sweden, France and the UK.