Approche dynamique de la différence d'espérance de vie entre hommes et femmes en Suisse, entre 1910/11 et 1988/93. Une application des méthodes de décomposition de POLLARD et D'ARRIAGA

Throughout the twentieth century, the gap between the life expectancy of men and women in Switzerland has constantly widened. This gender-dependent increase in longevity causes an imbalance in numbers, particularly in the older age groups. The purpose of this study is to estimate, on the basis of two demographic methods, which ages contributed to the differences in life expectancy by gender during the course of the century. While infant mortality explained the majority of these differences between the genders in 1910/11, this is no longer the case nowadays. Excess male mortality among members of the working-age population, and especially in the older age groups, explains both the differences in average longevity between the sexes and how these differences develop. Seen from another angle, the causes of death which contribute most to these gender disparities, ranked in order of importance, are cancers, violent deaths and ischaemic cardiac disorders.