Women Live Longer than Men - even During Severe Famines and Epidemics

Women in almost all modern populations live longer than men.  Research, to date, provides evidence for both biological and social factors influencing this gender gap.  However, the outcomes when both men and women experience extremely high levels of mortality risk has been an unexplored area.  This study investigates the survival of both sexes, in seven populations, under extreme conditions including famine, epidemics and slavery.  It shows that women survived better than men.  In all populations, they had lower mortality across almost all ages and, with the exception of one slave population, they lived longer on average than men.  For more details, visit: www.pnas.org/content/pnas/early/2018/01/03/1701535115.full.pdf