Life Expectancy Closing Between Men and Women

Life expectancy in humans has had one major factor in it: whether you are male or female. Right now, even in the countries with the best life expectancy, men live an average of more than 4 years shorter than women. Much of the reason for this “life expectancy gap” has to do with some of the dangerous situations men are put into, like war, mining or other dangerous occupations. Some also say that, because men often avoid seeing the doctor, preventative health benefits women more, thereby lengthening their lives.

Men and women: increase your life expectancy with these life expectancy tips.

Good News for Men About Life Expectancy

The good news is that men are gaining in life expectancy — by 2035, men will close the life expectancy gap between men and women. The reason for this is that dangerous careers in the past aren’t as dangerous as they used to be. Mining, being a soldier and other traditionally masculine careers have less of a mortality risk than in times past and women are increasingly sharing in those risks as they join with men in some of this dangerous work.

Bad News for Women About Life Expectancy

Not all of the distance between men and women in life expectancy is being closed by men taking less risks, women are taking more risks too. Take smoking, for example, men have reduced their smoking behaviors a lot while young women seem to be smoking more than young men. This will catch up and drag down women’s life expectancy.

What Those 4.5 Years Mean

Right now, the 4.5 year difference in the life expectancy between men and women has cultural and social implications for aging. There are many more widows than widowers, for example. Retirement homes are dominated by female residents (as most men who are married have wives that are still alive). This makes the widower something of a rare find in the upper age brackets.

Read more on Men’s Life Expectancy

_{Source: National Vital Statistics Report, CDC.}