Click on the buttons below to look at the life expectancies from various ages for men and women.
This shows the average life expectancy for newborn boys since 1850 compared to the average life expectancy for both genders. Compare with men at age 5.
Boys who reached the age of 5 had a much higher average life expectancy than newborns, showing that many died before reaching the age of 5. Compare with women at age 5.
Like the graph for women at age 20, the graph for men who reached the age of 20 shows that fewer died between the ages of 5 and 20 than died before reaching the age of 5. Compare with men at age 40.
While men who reached 40 were increasingly likely to live as long as contemporary American men live, in the twentieth century their life expectancy fell behind that of women who reached the same age. Compare with women at age 40.
Note that the greatest change in the overall life expectancy of American men since 1850 resulted from an increasing likelihood that they would reach the age of 5.
This shows the average life expectancy for newborn girls since 1850, compared to the average life expectancy for both genders. Compare with men at birth.
The yellow section represents the large numbers of girls who died before reaching the age of 5. Compare with women at age 20.
The difference between the life expectancy of women who reached the age of 5 and women who reached the age of 20 is smaller than the gap between women at birth and women at 5, showing that more girls died before reaching the age of 5 than died in the next fifteen years. Compare with men at 20.
The gap between women at 20 and women at 40 is greater than that between women at 5 and women at 20, which suggests that women died more frequently during mid-life than they did during their teenage years. Compare with women at age 60.
Life expectancy for women who reached the age of 60 has not greatly increased since 1850. Compare with men at age 60.