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 more than men do today, and why have these advantages gotten bigger over time? The evidence is limited and we only have some answers. We know that behavioral, biological and environmental factors all contribute to the fact that women have longer lives than men, however, we aren’t sure how significant the impact to each of these variables is.
In spite of the amount of weight, we are aware that a large portion of the reason why women live so much longer than men and not previously, is to relate to the fact that several significant non-biological elements have changed. These variables are evolving. Some are well known and Glorynote.com relatively straightforward, like the fact that men smoke more often. Others 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 line of parity diagonally. This means that a newborn girl from any country can be expected to live for longer than her brothers.
Interestingly, this chart shows that, while the advantage for women is present everywhere, country-specific differences are huge. In Russia women live for 10 years longer than men. In Bhutan the gap is less than half a calendar year.
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In rich countries the female advantage in longevity was smaller
Let’s look at how female longevity advantage has changed in the course of time. The chart below illustrates the male and female life expectancy at the birth in the US between 1790 to 2014. Two areas 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.
Second, the gap is growing: Although the advantage of women in life expectancy was quite small It has significantly increased over time.
By selecting ‘Change Country by country’ in the chart, you will be able to confirm that the two points are also applicable to the other countries with available information: Sweden, France and the UK.