The research, published in November 2013, found that U.S. females are expected to live approximately six years longer compared to U.S. man. COVID-19-related deaths and drug overdoses kill more men than women. JAMA Internal Medicine.
As of the most recent estimates, life expectancy for Americans has dropped in recent years. It now stands at 76 years. According to the latest research, women will live longer than men. According to federal data from 2021, which is the most recent year for which there are available statistics, men in the United States can expect to live 73.5 years compared with women who will have 79.3.
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Across the world, women tend to live longer than men for a variety of reasons, some biological—such as hormonal differences—and some behavioral. Women are more likely than men to go to the doctor and to not smoke or drink excessively. That’s been true in the U.S. for a long time. However, the data for 2021 represent the biggest gender-based difference in life expectancy since 1996.
The authors point out that the gulf started to widen even before the COVID-19 epidemic, but it accelerated between 2019 and 2021. Deaths due to COVID-19 were followed by unintentional injuries (which includes accidental overdoses).
