It should be no surprise to anyone that women live an average of five years longer than men, but it may surprise people that only 40 per cent of women have ever breached the topic of life insurance with their partners.
This is according to The Toronto Star’s Moneyville Blog and a survey from TD Insurance. Thankfully, more women are at least buying life insurance today. According to a study conducted by Nielsen in 2010, women accounted for 10 to 15 policies out of every 100 sold — and that was only a few years ago.
Now that number has jumped to between 25 to 30. In fact, women comprise 15 per cent of all life insurance policies in the country. Even their intention to buy insurance is higher than that of men, outstripping the male gender by 25 to 19 per cent.
One reason for this is that more and more women are joining the workforce, becoming financially productive and in some cases even becoming the primary breadwinners in their families.
Women now make an average of $44,700 annually compared to an average of $62,600 made by men. It’s still an improvement from an average of $34,400 to $54,400 made by males in 1978.
Earnings-wise, the glass ceiling is still very much a problem, but these statistics related to life insurance indicate that women are taking further financial control of their lives and the lives of their families.
Thanks for sharing your insughts Mitch. You make a good point about the need for life insurance for Stay at Home Mothers.
I agree that more women need life insurance protection. Even for stay home moms there is a big need for cash flow to replace the cost of providing care for children. Women need to value their contribution to the family more.