Why do women live longer than men? Here, we mine rich lodes of demographic data to reveal that lower female mortality at particular ages is decisive—and that the important ages changed around 1950. Earlier, excess mortality among baby boys was crucial; afterward, the gap largely resulted from elevated mortality among men 60+. Young males bear modest responsibility for the sex gap in life expectancy: Depending on the country and time, their mortality accounts for less than a quarter and often less than a 10th of the gap. Understanding the impact on life expectancy of differences between male and female risks of death by age, over time, and across populations yields insights for research on how the lives of men and women differ.

为什么女性比男性长寿？在这里，我们挖掘了大量的人口数据，揭示了特定年龄段女性死亡率的降低是决定性的——而且重要年龄在 1950 年左右发生了变化。此后，这一差距主要是由于 60 岁以上男性死亡率升高造成的。年轻男性对预期寿命的性别差距负有适度的责任：根据国家和时间的不同，他们的死亡率占性别差距的不到四分之一，通常还不到十分之一。了解不同年龄、不同时间和不同人群的男性和女性死亡风险差异对预期寿命的影响，可以为研究男性和女性的生活差异提供见解。