Whilst it is increasingly acknowledged that there is a pay gap for women, or that there is a growing Pension gap for working women, there is another anomaly for women which has flown under the radar for many, the Protection gap for women.
Protection is broken down into death benefits & living benefits. Even though women statistically live longer that men, women are more likely to suffer illness or injury during their working lives & beyond.
Men are far more insured in both forms of Protection, this can longer be justified with the traditional stereotype of men in the workforce or the single “breadwinner” of the family unit. These gaps have been passed onto the current generation of women through inertia and lack of knowledge. Failure to catch up to this will be detrimental to all stakeholders without adequate financial planning.
Research from Coyne Research on behalf of Irish Life in 2017 found the following;
- Less than 50% of women had any form of Protection, versus 60% of men
- Women are claiming Life Insurance@ an earlier age of 64 versus 67 for men
- Women are dying from cancer much more than men | 54% of women to 38% of men
2017 Claims statistics from Friends First, a provider of Income Protection Insurance, found that women made up 59% of their claims book due to inability to work due to illness or injury, these figures play out consistently across the Life Assurers claims information.
A snapshot of actuarial calculations below show the risks in Protection of income to a women versus a man at certain age intervals, noting the final column of increased risk to women;
| Profile | Risk of Death | Risk of a Serious Specified Illness | Risk of being out of work for more than One month | Risk of any of these happening |
| Female | 29 | 5% | 16% | 72% | 77% |
| Male | 29 | 6% | 18% | 52% | 63% |
| Female | 34 | 5% | 16% | 70% | 76% |
| Male | 34 | 6% | 17% | 51% | 62% |
| Female | 39 | 4% | 15% | 68% | 74% |
| Male | 39 | 6% | 17% | 49% | 60% |
| Female | 44 | 4% | 14% | 65% | 72% |
| Male | 44 | 6% | 16% | 46% | 58% |
| Female | 49 | 4% | 13% | 62% | 68% |
| Male | 49 | 5% | 15% | 43% | 54% |
Modern families are also not what they once were. Get married, couple of kids and a house by your late 20’s?
This was the more common traditional way, yet we can see this model of Irish society is not as homogenous as it once was.
How are we mitigating the Protection risks for these new types of family units?
Modern families can now be compose the following challenges for a Women/Mother;
- Co-Habiting Couples with poorer tax treatment
- Single mothers who are the sole providers must be protecting their biggest asset, their incomes
- Divorce | 2nd marriages or 2nd relationships
- Inheritance tax issues
- Children are not leaving the home as early anymore with extended parental Protection required
Women must begin thinking more about themselves & their own unique situation, a creaking health system and medical trends mean we should be doing more to protect our families, incomes & lives. This applies to all demographics of women in society. A Financial Brokerage will be able to guide you through the necessary steps to provide both yourself and loved ones.
