Women live longer than men across the world and scientists have by and large linked the sex differences in longevity with biological foundation to survival.
Biological differences also help to explain women's higher longevity. Scientists believe that estrogen in women combats conditions such as heart disease by helping reduce circulatory levels of harmful cholesterol. Women are also thought to have stronger immune systems than men.
Women's life expectancy was 79 years in the U.S. in 2021, while men's was about 73, according to CDC data.
In almost all countries across the world, women outlive men1 and male mortality is higher for almost all primary causes of death. The female superiority in longevity is true not only for humans, but also for many other species of mammals.
Monaco has the highest life expectancy in the world in 2023, according to World Population Review, where locals live to an average age of 87. Asian countries in the top 10 include Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea, while European countries that made the list include Switzerland and Italy.
Married men and married women live, on average, two years longer than their unmarried counterparts. One reason for this longevity benefit is the influence of marital partners on healthy behaviors. Study after study shows that married people eat better and are less likely to smoke and drink excessively.
Males born in the Lesotho have the lowest life expectancy of the world in 2022. Similarly low is the life expectancy for females born in this country. The average woman lives only 56 years. The lowest life expectancy for women in the world in 2022 was for girls born in Nigeria, with only 54 years.
Women on average report more pain when compared to men, and there seem to be more painful conditions where women exhibit a greater prevalence than where men do. Sex differences in pain vary according to age, with many differences occurring during the reproductive years.
Sex Differences in Memory
Females tend to perform better than males in verbal-based episodic memory tasks, as opposed to spatial-based memory tasks [10]. Females generally access their memories faster than males [11], date them more precisely [12], and use more emotional terms when describing memories [13].
Now, according to the Population Reference Bureau the female lifespan is about 81 years, and that of males is about 76 years old, a mere five year gap. Researchers believe that the gap will continue to shrink, with both genders' increasing their longevity, but males at a slightly higher rate.
Japanese life expectancy
The healthy life expectancy of the Japanese, 74.8 years, is also higher than in Canada (73.2 years). The higher life expectancy of Japanese people is mainly due to fewer deaths from ischemic heart disease and cancers, particularly breast and prostate cancer.
Men aged 92 to 93 had an overall 6.0% chance of surviving to 100 years, whereas the chance for women was 11.4%. Being able to rise without use of hands increased the chance for men to 11.2% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 7.7–14.7) and for women to 22.0% (95% CI = 18.9–25.1).
Scientists have found a way to lengthen worms' lives so much, if the process works in humans, we might all soon be living for 500 years. They've discovered a "double mutant" technique, when applied to nematode worms, makes them live five times longer than usual.
It's In The Genes!
While females have both X chromosomes in the 23rd pair, males have one X and one Y chromosome. The Y chromosome has fewer genes than chromosome X and is linked to some chronic diseases. This makes men have a higher mortality rate.
A new study from the American College of Cardiology,1 which was published on February 23, 2023, found that married men are more likely to live a longer life.
"What we have found is that women, in many different tasks, process information about five times faster than men, and use much less of their brain to do identical cognitive performance." But apparently, female brain speed and efficiency come at a cost.
Human sexual size dimorphism, the difference in height between males and females, is often touted as a classic example of sexual selection: the kind of trait whose evolution was driven by differences in reproductive success rather than survival.
In a 2014 study, University of Pennsylvania researchers imaged the brains of 428 male and 521 female youths — an uncharacteristically huge sample — and found that the females' brains consistently showed more strongly coordinated activity between hemispheres, while the males' brain activity was more tightly coordinated ...
Brain research
In numerous studies females score higher than males in standard tests of emotion recognition, social sensitivity and empathy.
The study indicated that women get more negatively affected, both emotionally and physically, by a heartbreak. Women participants rated their 'emotional anguish' to be 6.84 post break up and whereas, the figure turned out to be 6.58 for men.
In 2021, the average life expectancy at birth was 79.1 for women and 73.2 for men, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, if a man is healthy enough to reach age 70 this year, the Social Security actuarial tables indicate he could live an average of 15.4 years more.
At the end of the study, about 16 percent of the men and about 34 percent of the women survived to the age of 90. In fact, the authors found that women who were taller than 5 feet 9 inches were 31 percent more likely to reach 90, compared to those who were under 5 feet 3 inches.
By gender, 56.2 percent of married men said they were “very happy,” compared with only 39.4 percent of unmarried men who said so. Among women, the figure dropped to 44.9 percent and 35.4 percent respectively.
Research suggests that married people in particular, but also those involved in healthy social relationships, typically live longer.