The Life Expectancy Gap Between Men and Women Is the Widest Its Been in Decades Americans are overall living shorter lives, but women still have men beat. It’s hardly a secret that women generally live longer than men. But the gap in life expectancy between men and women in America is now nearly six years, the widest it has been in nearly three decades.
As to a recent study published in JAMA Network, the difference in life expectancy between genders increased to 5.8 years in 2021. The disparity was the biggest since 1996; the smallest in recent memory was 4.8 years in 2010. However, the average American life expectancy has decreased, falling from 77 years in 2020 and 78.8 years in 2019 to just 76.1 years in 2021.
In coming up with the findings, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco and the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health examined data from the National Center for Health Statistics to learn which causes of death were having the greatest impact on life expectancy. And what they discovered was indeed a sign on the times, as the Covid-19 pandemic, opioid overdoses, and alcohol-related deaths were key factors.
Other contributing factors included unintentional injuries, accidents, and suicide, which are often linked to economic hardship, depression, and stress. Unsurprisingly, the combined factors disproportionately affect men, in particular, more than women.
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