Using age-specific and sex-specific data on mortality rates in Japan, Russia, Sweden, and the United States dating from the 19th century to the present, researchers found that the life-expectancy gap between females and males before the early 20th century primarily resulted from excess mortality of infant boys, and, since then, primarily resulted from excess mortality among men aged 60 years and older; even though young adult males between 15 and 40 years of age continue to die at higher rates than young adult females, this excess mortality is not the main cause of the life-expectancy gap because few deaths occur at these ages, according to the authors.
Article #20-10588: "Death rates at specific life stages mold the sex gap in life expectancy," by Virginia Zarulli, Ilya Kashnitsky, and James W. Vaupel.
MEDIA CONTACT: Virginia Zarulli, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, DENMARK; tel: +4565504087; email: vzarulli@sdu.dk ; Ilya Kashnitsky, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, DENMARK; tel: +4560550126; email: ikashnitsky@sdu.dk
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences