The researchers, led by Dr Jesús-Adrian Alvarez of the Interdisciplinary Center for Population Dynamics at the Danish University of Syddansk Universitet, pointed out that the survival advantage of women has been observed throughout time in many different populations of the planet.
Despite the widespread belief that women almost always live longer than men, a significant percentage of men—ranging from 25% to 50% on Earth over the past 200 years—have a very high probability of outliving women, which it primarily concerns married men and those with a high level of education.
This reveals a new international scientific researchaccording to which not infrequently the differences (in favor of women) in life expectancy between the sexes hide that in fact a quarter to a half of men, depending on the continent and time period, live longer than women women.
The researchers, led by Dr. Jesús-Adrian Alvarez of the Interdisciplinary Center for Population Dynamics of the Danish University of Syddansk Universitet, who made the relevant publication in the British medical journal “BMJ Open”, pointed out that the female survival advantage has been observed over time in many different populations of the planet. But it is mainly based on the comparison of life expectancy which summarizes the average lifespan and has led to the prevailing impression that “men generally do not live as long as women”.
The new analysis of nearly 200 Earth populations for the period 1751-2020 shows that from 1850 to the present day the probability of a man outliving a woman ranges between 25% and 50% and has rarely exceeded 50% (indicatively in Iceland in 1898, Jordan in 1950-54, Iran in 1950-1964, Bangladesh before 1985 and Bhutan between 1995-2010).
In developed countries the probability of men living longer than women showed a decline until the 1970s, but then gradually increased in all populations. The fluctuation in life expectancy between the two sexes is mainly attributed to smoking (men smoke less and less, while women smoke more) as well as to other differences in the behavior of the two sexes.
Men are generally more likely to live longer than women in low- and middle-income countries. Also fewer girls than boys over the age of 15 have died since the 1980s.
The probability that a man will live longer than a woman is 39% for married versus 37% for single, and 43% for college graduates versus 39% for those who have not completed high school. In addition, married men with a university degree have a comparative survival advantage over single female high school graduates. Moreover, given that in couples the health of the partners interacts, this is especially true for men, who benefit more than women from a stable relationship, according to the study.
“Not all women live longer than men, although the majority do. But it is not a small minority of women who live less,” according to the researchers.
However, the evidence shows that mortality has fallen faster for women than for men under 50, especially in the first half of the 20th century, mainly due to a decline in child mortality. On the other hand, men are even more prone to accidents and murders, and they also smoke and drink more alcohol, which continues to increase, compared to women, their probability of death after 60.
RES-EMP
Read the News today and get the latest news. Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.
