The age pattern of the gender gap in mortality: stylized evidence across COVID-19 pandemic times

Abstract

AbstractOne of the most known gaps between genders relate to survival prospects. The longer life expectancy of women implies greater longevity and morbidity risks and thus involves different needs between genders in silver ages, e.g., health care costs. In this paper, we uncover stylized evidence about the age pattern of the gender gap in mortality, by showing “facts” that are consistently verified in both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 situations. We thus capture the general shape of the relationship between male and female mortality rates as it evolves with age. We target the ratio of male to female mortality rates, namely the Gender Gap Ratio (GGR). By means of a graduation technique, we show that the GGR evolution over age follows, for all the nations under study, the same pattern, consisting in a systematic interchange between increasing and decreasing trends within specific age intervals. In other terms, the GGR has an almost stylized shape, with distinct age-specific components, in terms of its slope and curvature.