One Advantage Women Have Over Men: They Live Longer
June 18, 2017
Yes, men and boys tend to take more risks, which can hurt their chances of living longer. A male hang glider soars from a cliff in eastern San Diego County, California. JOHN PENNEY
With few exceptions, women across the world live longer than men. Globally, life expectancies of women at birth exceed men by more than four years. At age 60, women live longer than men by nearly three years. Globally, average life expectancy at birth stands at 72 years, with some 50 countries attaining levels above 80 years.
Despite the gender longevity gap, not much interest has been paid to women living longer than men and what the gap can mean for society. But increasing the chances of male survival has a broad effect: it reduces premature deaths of boys and men, shortens periods of widowhood, contributes to a family’s integrity, helps balance sex ratios, especially among older people, and improves economic returns and productivity for a country overall.
The gap is largest in Eastern Europe, especially in Belarus, Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine, where the female advantage over men is more than 10 years at birth and about five years at age 60.
Paradoxically, some of the lowest gaps are found in the high-mortality countries of Africa, such as Lesotho, Mali, Nigeria and Swaziland, where the female advantage is one year or less.
