Life expectancy gap between sexes narrows
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The gap in life expectancy between men and women is at its lowest level for more than 50 years. While both sexes are living longer, the latest figures released yesterday show that men are catching up with women.
Last night health experts said the change owed much to men smoking less, paying more attention to their diet and being less reluctant to go the doctor. Over 20 years, the gap between female and male life expectancy at birth has dropped from 5.8 years to 4.3 years, according to the Office of National Statistics. Boys born in the UK between 2005 and 2007 can expect to live to 77.2 years, while girls can look forward to 81.5 years.
For 1985 to 1987, the comparable figures were 71.9 years for boys and 77.7 years for girls. The gap between the sexes was 4.8 years in 1951, but widened to 6.3 years in the next 20 years. Since the 1970s, experts said, men have benefited from lifestyle changes.
Dr Ian Banks, president of the Men's Health Forum, said: "Probably the biggest single reason is that men are giving up smoking in very large numbers, so cardiovascular disease has been affected by this in terms of numbers and lung cancer – the single greatest cancer killer of men – is on the decline." Men are also paying more attention to their diet, he said.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments