U.S. Women Now Live Almost 6 Years Longer Than Men After the COVID Pandemic, New Study Says

Life expectancy for American men and woman has fallen consecutively since 2019

Life expectancy between men and women in the United States has changed following the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study.

Earlier this week, the findings were published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, which discovered that the life expectancy gap between men and women grew to its largest since 1996, due to more men dying of COVID-19 and drug overdoses.

Back in 2021, which marked the latest year with federal data available, women had a life expectancy of 79.3 years, while men compared with 73.5 years, per the study.

Overall, the study added that life expectancy for Americans fell consecutively since 2019, from 78.8 years then to 77.0 years in 2020 and 76.1 years in 2021.

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In a statement to The New York Times, Dr. Brandon Yan, a resident physician at the University of California, San Francisco, and lead author of the study, expressed his concern at the findings.

"It was unsettling to see,” he told the publication. "We need to understand which groups are particularly losing out on years of life expectancy so interventions can be at least partially focused on these groups."

Dr. Yan also offered an idea behind what he thinks is the cause for the life expectancy gap between men and women in the United States.

“All of these point to a picture of worsening mental health across the board, but particularly among men,” he told the Times.

If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

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