Some Of The Reason Why Women Now Live Almost 6 Years Longer Than Men

The 2021 data represent the largest gender-based life expectancy gap in the U.S. since 1996. The gulf began to widen before the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors note, but the trend accelerated from 2019 to 2021.

 Deaths from COVID-19 and unintentional injuries, a category that includes accidental drug overdoses, were the largest contributors to the widening of the gap, but differential rates of homicide, heart disease, and suicide deaths also played a role, according to the report.

 It's well-established that men die of these causes more frequently than women, and in recent years, they have been some of the most common causes of death overall. Heart disease, COVID-19, and unintentional injuries accounted for three of the top five in 2021.

The gender gap would have been even wider, the authors note, but for factors including increases in maternal mortality and decreases in cancer deaths among men. Overall, the data underscore the continued importance of limiting COVID-19's spread, and of finding better ways to improve national mental health and prevent drug overdoses and suicides -- fatalities sometimes labeled by experts as "deaths of despair."

Another reason is genetic. Women have a backup for all their genes, but men have no backup for the genes on the X chromosome. This is why many recessive genes on the X chromosome, such as color blindness and hemophilia, are rarely seen in women.

Yet another reason is evolution. Men have evolved to be bigger to defend the tribe and fight off rivals. Smaller men outlive bigger men but are less likely to have offspring. Women have no biological imperative to be bigger, so can be the optimum size for good health.

 It goes deeper. Traditional "there's a problem" instinct in women is to protect the offspring. I.e. they will run away from the problem.

 Men Have the opposite response. They run toward the problem, because they are the ones who need to make sure that women and children survive into the future. That leads to death even in today's world, but defines the factors that count as an "acceptable risk" completely different for two genders. Women are far more risk averse than men.