Gender Disparities in Life Expectancy: Males in Punjab and Haryana Suffer Steeper Declines New Delhi, December 21, 2025 – An in-depth gender-focused analysis of India''s Sample Registration System (SRS) data from 2016-20 to 2019-23 reveals stark differences in life expectancy trends between males and females in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana. While Himachal Pradesh shows modest gains for both genders, males in Punjab and Haryana experienced significantly sharper declines than their female counterparts. In Himachal Pradesh, male life expectancy at birth edged up from 70.3 years in 2016-20 to 71.0 years in 2019-23, a net gain of 0.7 years, despite a temporary dip to 69.9 years during the peak pandemic period of 2017-21. Females in the state fared similarly, with life expectancy rising from 77.5 years to 78.1 years (a 0.6-year increase), maintaining a consistent gender gap of around 7.1 to 7.9 years favoring women. This resilience positions Himachal Pradesh as an outlier, with both genders benefiting from potentially stronger healthcare infrastructure and lower exposure to urban pollutants. Punjab presents a more concerning picture, where males saw a pronounced drop from 70.8 years to 68.8 years over the same periods—a loss of 2.0 years—compared to a 1.4-year decline for females (from 74.5 to 73.1 years). The steepest fall for Punjab males occurred during 2017-21, aligning with COVID-19''s peak, when life expectancy plummeted to 69.3 years. This gender disparity widened slightly from 3.7 years to 4.3 years, highlighting how males bore a heavier burden, possibly due to higher occupational exposure and comorbidities. Haryana mirrors Punjab's trends but with even greater male vulnerability: Male life expectancy fell from 67.3 years to 65.9 years (a 1.4-year net loss), while females experienced a milder 0.8-year drop (from 73.0 to 72.2 years). The gender gap expanded from 5.7 years to 6.3 years, with males hitting a low of 65.8 years in 2018-22. These figures place Haryana's males well below the national average of 68.5 years in 2019-23, emphasizing regional inequities. Nationally, the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to these gendered declines, with studies showing varied impacts. According to the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), India's overall life expectancy dropped by 1.6 years from 2019 to 2021, with males losing 2.2 years compared to just 0.5 years for females. Contrasting global trends where males often suffered more from COVID-19, some Indian analyses highlight indirect effects on females, such as disrupted maternal care and unequal healthcare allocation, leading to larger female declines in certain datasets (e.g., 3.1 years for women vs. 2.1 for men in 2020).However, SRS-based evidence for these northern states aligns more closely with male-heavy losses, suggesting methodological differences or regional variations. Air pollution exacerbates these disparities, with ambient PM2.5 levels shortening life expectancy by 7 years and 5 months in Haryana and 5 years and 11 months in Punjab.While ambient pollution may affect males more due to outdoor activities, household air pollution from biomass cooking disproportionately impacts rural women, contributing to rising lung cancer rates and an average 3.5-year national life expectancy reduction. In agriculturally dominant Punjab and Haryana, crop residue burning and industrial emissions compound these risks, potentially widening gender gaps through chronic health burdens. As India grapples with post-pandemic recovery, these findings call for gender-sensitive policies, including enhanced pollution controls, equitable healthcare access, and targeted interventions for vulnerable males in high-risk states. Without action, the divergent trajectories in Himachal Pradesh versus its neighbors could deepen north India's health divides.