Women are living longer than they used to (and so are men). Over the past 20 years average life expectancy has increased from 71.0 to 74.6 years in 'developed' regions, and from 54.5 to 62.4 years in 'developing' countries

Improvements in female life expectancy may be jeopardized by prolonged economic recession, poorly designed structural-adjustment policies, growing environmental health problems and the AIDS pandemic.