All winners! The press is today unanimous in making a croak about our life expectancy. “On average, sums up The worlda 35-year-old man today can expect to live 5 years longer, and a woman 5.5 years longer than at the end of the 1970s. Medicine.
But the study published this Thursday by INSEE (1) reminds us that we are still not equal in the face of the vagaries of life. The more diplomas we have, the greater our life expectancy. A senior executive will live 7.5 years longer than a person without a diploma, 3.5 years longer than a holder of a CAP and 1 year longer than a bachelor.
For women, the gaps are narrowing. “However, she lives much longer than a woman without a diploma,” notes the study.
There are several causes for these differences, lists INSEE. Managers are less exposed to occupational risks than manual workers; they have more recourse to medicine, in particular to specialists; their lifestyle (tobacco, alcohol) and their eating habits are healthier.
And for the new Secretary of State for Real Equality, Ericka Bareigts, INSEE delivers another subject for reflection. The life expectancy of a woman without a diploma is practically identical to that of a man with advanced studies beyond the baccalaureate. “They consume less alcohol than men, their working hours (weekly or throughout life) are shorter, which reduces the risks associated with the professional environment”, specifies the daily.
And that’s not all. Women would have protective biological factors. Definitely, on this ground, the battle is really unequal!
(1) National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies
First broadcast: February 19, 2016
