Why Do Women Live Longer?

For nearly a century in the U.S. and other developed countries, women have outlived men – and in the U.S., the gap is only growing. Some examples of this disparity in the developed world are cited below:

• In France, the average female lifespan is 85.5 years, compared to 79.4 for men. 
• Taiwan’s female life expectancy averages 84.4 years, compared to 77.8 for men. 
• The U.S. has a widening gap, with male life expectancy falling to 73.2 years after the pandemic compared to females’ at 79.1, making it the widest age gap since 1996.

There are a range of factors that could be contributing to why women have longer average life expectancies than men, from differences in behavioral patterns to lower female infant mortality rates.

This article discusses why men have higher rates of mortality at all ages, as well as the ways that wealth and education minimize this gap, which illustrates how access to quality health care, higher awareness of mental health, and better food can directly contribute to longevity.

Boys Have Higher Infant Mortality Rates Than Girls

The disparity in mortality rates begins from birth. Newborn boys have a significantly higher chance of being born prematurely as well as higher mortality rates in the first week of life compared to newborn girls, and this gap remains largely the same as they go through infancy.

This is partially chromosomal; females have two X chromosomes and males have one X and one Y chromosome, and having two X chromosomes makes it less likely for certain genetic conditions like hemophilia to be expressed. Moreover, male infants are more susceptible to infectious diseases, and infectious diseases tend to be more severe in male infants than females, potentially due to a less developed immune system. 

Young Men Die At Higher Rates Than Women

After male babies grow into teenagers and young adults, they remain more susceptible to “external” causes of death such as violence, accidents, poisoning, suicides, and poisonings. As demonstrated by international data collected by Our World In Data, the overall death rates from ages 15-25 are much higher across the board for young men than their female peers, and also persists past 25.

This could be potentially attributed to the surge in testosterone as young men go through puberty as well as a difference in societal expectations for young men and women; teen boys have long had higher rates of accidents, which is reflected in insurance rates for young men under 25 compared to their female peers. For example, male teen drivers between the ages of 16-19 in the U.S. are three times more likely to die while driving than female ones. 

Some studies have correlated the higher rates in accident-caused fatalities among young men with higher rates of risk-taking behavior. Part of this disparity may be cultural. In many Western (and Eastern) societies, risk-taking behavior is seen as “masculine” and more encouraged in boys (think “boys will be boys”), while girls are urged to be more cautious of a range of potential dangers. 

The Disparity Persists Into Old Age 

The sex gap in life expectancy is just as stark among senior citizens. Death rates begin rising significantly in the last third of life due to a range of natural causes, such as cancers, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, autoimmune diseases, and infections. Men tend to have higher rates of contracting fatal diseases from the conditions listed above, and also are twice as likely to die from cardiovascular disease, which accounts for a significant amount of deaths for the older population at large. 

Part of these differences can be explained by gender differences in behaviors that play a key role in longevity and overall health, such as drug use, smoking, and alcohol.

Occupational risks are also higher in men, as there are many more men doing manual jobs, and these jobs  tend to pose higher risks of being injured or killed on the job. Since there are more men in the military, ice-road trucking, and construction (which all have higher than average rates of job-related fatalities), they are more exposed to occupational risks.

The Gap Is Widening

In countries like the U.S., women are outliving men by longer and longer. As we noted above, general trends of women outliving men in developed countries can be correlated to differences in behaviors like drinking and smoking habits, drug use, risk-taking behaviors, and occupational choice.

The COVID-19 pandemic also turned out some interesting data; men get sicker, on average, when they contract COVID, particularly among younger populations. While women still outlive men within the same socioeconomic group, wealthier, more educated men quickly close the gap in average lifespans when compared to women with less access to resources, which emphasizes the ways in which proper nutrition, education, and lifestyle impact longevity.