Jämställdhet och mäns medellivslängd

Abstract

The average life expectancy of men in Sweden has rapidly approached that of women over the past twenty years. Deaths related to the consumption of alcohol and tobacco as well as to suicide have decreased among both sexes. However, this means that more men than women are being saved to live longer lives, since these causes of death are more common among men than women. Surprisingly, the relatively strong status of women in Swedish society may be an important factor underlying the levelling out of the gender differences in average life expectancy. As women's entry into the labour märket during the 1960s and 1970s resulted in an expansion of women's life space into previously male domains, this has also resulted in men's increased engagement with child care and household work during the 1980s and 1990s. The fact that men have taken on a more concrete responsibility for child care may in turn have significance for attitudes towards taking risks in traffic and the over-consumption of alcohol and smoking, both among men and in society in general. An overall greater impact by women's views on which societal issues should receive high priority is perhaps of even more importance. For example, the relatively prominent position of women in society led to early priority being given to child safety issues. All in all, this means that we have a society where health risks are viewed from a more "feminine" perspective than was previously the case, and that both women and men adopt more pronounced attitudes towards safety and care, which influences trends in health. This article shows that gender differences in average life expectancy are caused by factors that are highly sensitive to social change. There is no reason to mystify the fact that women live longer than men by attributing it to something inaccessible in women's biological nature. There is a great and still undeveloped potential in the study of how gender differences in average life expectancy arise/exist that can lead to new perspectives in our knowledge about the determinants of public health. Improved public health is one of many arguments for a more gender equal society.