Each week, The Livelong Woman explores science-backed insights on living longer, healthier, and stronger, all through a woman’s lens. This week, we’re looking at how income and geography can shape our lifespan and how to advocate for yourself within the US healthcare system.

The impact of geography on health is something I’ve often thought about in the past few years, as a woman living in Colorado. Currently, our state law includes a fundamental right to contraception and abortion and prevents insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions, including a history of pregnancy or C-sections. Laws like these protect more of our rights, which leads to better health outcomes. It might also be why my doctors are so open to conversations and knowledgeable about current best practices in women’s health, especially fertility and HRT, compared to some of the stories I hear from friends elsewhere.

Your zip code or income shouldn’t determine your health, though. After researching this week’s newsletter, I’m committed to improving women’s health. For me, that means sharing what I’ve learned and volunteering with organizations that prioritize women’s well-being. I hope that after reading, you’ll be inspired to help move women’s health forward, too, in whatever way works for your season of life.

This newsletter focuses specifically on women’s health and longevity. If that’s not relevant to you, no problem—you can opt out of just the Livelong Woman while staying subscribed to everything else.

Nine. That’s the number of extra years of life you can expect to live if you are in the highest 10% of earners, according to a recent study from the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and University of Massachusetts Boston's LeadingAge LTSS Center, which studies aging.

But what if better policies, such as paid family leave and affordable preventive care, could help close that gap? For millions of women juggling work, caregiving, and economic stress, the path to a longer, healthier life starts with both personal choices and public support.

It’s no surprise that the more financial resources we have, the longer we can live, but how does this play out for women? After all, the connection between wealth, gender, and health runs deep. Women are more likely to live longer than men, but also more likely to live poorer, especially in retirement. Lower earnings, career breaks for caregiving, and unequal access to healthcare mean many women enter their later years financially vulnerable.

In fact, more than one in ten women in the U.S. is currently economically vulnerable, according to the U.S. Women’s Power and Influence Index. This report also paints a picture of two Americas: one in which women benefit from supportive policies and better health outcomes, and another in which economic insecurity and policy gaps shorten lives. In states that have rejected policies such as paid sick leave, Medicaid expansion, or reproductive rights protections, women face both economic hardship and shorter life (and health) spans.

Diagnostic delays can cost women years, says Dr. Anita Phung, MRGCP and research physician for Lindus Health. Conditions like endometriosis can take 5–10 years to diagnose, and heart disease and autoimmune symptoms are still misread as stress or anxiety, which delays care and worsens outcomes.

It isn’t all doom and gloom, though. The Future Forward report shows that in the states ranked highest for women’s economic status, civic engagement, political inclusion, health, public policy, and legal protections, women report stronger health and longer lives.

So what’s a woman to do if they aren’t in the top-ranked states? No matter where you live or what your income is, Phung offers three top tips for greater health throughout your life:

We can’t always control our zip code or income, but knowledge is its own power. Like me, perhaps you can take something away from these reports and use it to level the playing field for yourself and the other women in your world.