I'm talking mothers dying in childbirth. 600/100,000 births in the early 20th century killed the mother. Now it's something like 15/100,000 in the US.
That would account for why men used to have longer lifespans than women. Doesn't seem to give any indicator for the opposite, though. Right?
That is, this would easily explain why women have had a better increase in their expected life span. It would not seem to give any reason for them to have a longer one.
Or occupational hazards (much closer to equal 100yr ago)