Gender Health Gap
Gender health gap – a disparity between women and men in mortality from diseases, health status, and average life expectancy.
For example, in Ukraine, among people aged 20 to 60, women’s mortality is three times lower than men’s mortality.
Among the causes of death for both women and men, diseases of the circulatory system and neoplasms occupy the first and second places. The third most common cause of death among women is diseases of the digestive system, whereas among men it is external causes.
If the political situation in the country is not taken into account, an analysis of the unfavorable dynamics of male mortality reveals a clear relationship between gender and causes of death. Women tend to be more responsible in their attitudes toward health and life. In 2017, women’s mortality from external causes was almost four times lower than men’s mortality, namely 3.7 times lower. Women’s mortality from accidental poisoning and exposure to alcohol was 6.3 times lower than men’s; mortality from drowning was 5.8 times lower; and mortality from accidents caused by smoke, fire, and flames was 1.6 times lower. Women died from transport accidents almost three times less often than men, namely 2.9 times less often.
In addition, statistics indicate that women are more stress-resistant and psychologically stable than men. In Ukraine, for every female suicide there were almost five male suicides, or 4.6 male suicides: 1,161 female suicides compared with 5,327 male suicides, with a total of 6,488 cases. In 2017, women were four times less likely than men to die from mental and behavioral disorders, nine times less likely to die from degeneration of the nervous system caused by alcohol use, and 1.5 times less likely to die from diseases of the nervous system.
The statistics presented above are primarily shaped by sociocultural norms that differ for women and men. The influence of gender stereotypes is not limited to the distribution of social roles; it becomes deeply embedded in the lifestyle of each individual and inevitably affects their health and longevity. Society tends to approve of male activity, risk-taking, and sometimes aggressive behavior. This helps explain the high rates of male mortality from external causes. Social tolerance toward harmful habits among men, together with men’s inability or limited ability to express current emotions and feelings adequately, further explains the gap in life expectancy between women and men.
At the same time, a positive shift in Ukraine’s demographic processes should also be noted, namely an increase in average life expectancy at birth. At the beginning of the 2000s, in 2002–2003, women’s average life expectancy was 74 years; by January 2017, it had increased to 76.78 years. Men’s average life expectancy increased from 62.64 to 67.02 years. Thus, the gap between women’s and men’s life expectancy decreased from 11.36 to 9.76 years.
References:
Shevchenko, Z. V. (2019). Gendernyi rozryv u sferi okhorony zdorovia [Gender health gap]. Slovnyk gendernykh terminiv [Dictionary of Gender Terms]. Retrieved from http://a-z-gender.net/razryv-v-pokazatelyax-zdorovya.html [in Ukrainian].
Derzhavna sluzhba statystyky Ukrainy. (n.d.). Ofitsiinyi veb-sait Derzhavnoi sluzhby statystyky Ukrainy [Official website of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine]. Retrieved from http://www.ukrstat.gov.ua/ [in Ukrainian].
Derzhavna sluzhba statystyky Ukrainy. (n.d.). Bank danykh [Data bank]. Retrieved from http://database.ukrcensus.gov.ua/MULT/Dialog/statfile_c.asp [in Ukrainian].
Derzhavna sluzhba statystyky Ukrainy. (2018). Dity, zhinky ta simia v Ukraini: Statystychnyi zbirnyk [Children, women and family in Ukraine: Statistical yearbook]. Kyiv. [in Ukrainian].
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