Greater gender equality increases life expectancy of both women and men

According to the latest report by the World Economic Forum, global events such as the rising cost of living, the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate emergency and large-scale conflict and displacement are stalling progress towards gender parity. This may, in turn, jeopardise socioeconomic development and improvement in living and working conditions, curbing the gains in life expectancy that have occurred over the past decades.

The first global study to investigate how gender equality may be associated with life expectancy has found that both women and men live longer as it improves.

However, variations between countries grouped into regions according to socioeconomic development and geographic proximity suggest that while mainly benefitting women’s lives and health at first, progress in gender equality helps men to live longer too, eventually narrowing the gender gap in life expectancy.

To investigate whether gender equality was associated with life expectancy (LE) for women and men and assess the gender gap in life expectancy across the globe, the researchers used a modified global gender gap index (mGGGI), Among the three dimensions included in this study (i.e., political, economic, and educational), gender equality in education had the strongest association with longer life expectancy for both women and men.

Reference:

Pinho-Gomes A-C, Peters SAE, Woodward M (2023) Gender equality related to gender differences in life expectancy across the globe gender equality and life expectancy. PLOS Glob Public Health 3(3): e0001214. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0001214.