A new study by life assurance giant, Zurich Assurance has revealed the scale of the gap between men and women when it comes to their protection insurance.
Protection generally takes the form of life cover, critical illness cover or income protection. Zurich’s study included more than 2000 participants and showed that women were less likely to have cover in place. Whats more, when they did have protection insurance the cover was much lower, on average around a third as much as men.
This study follows the CII report, Insuring Women’s Futures which identified the unique risks and six ‘Moments that Matter’ that women commonly face. These can include risks from divorce or separation, where women may have lower earnings and fewer financial assets than men, and a ‘motherhood and caring penalty’, with women putting careers on hold to be primary carers to their children and parents.
Life insurance and critical illness cover is often overlooked for carers and stay at home parents but the cost of losing the primary carer can take the form of expensive fees or reduced quality of life for families and may lead to working parent reducing their hours or leaving the workplace to become full-time carers.
The six ‘moments that matter’ in women’s lives according to the CII report
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- Growing up, studying and re-qualifying
- Entering and re-entering the workplace
- Relationships: Making and breaking up
- Motherhood and becoming a carer
- Later life, planning and entering retirement
- Ill health, infirmity and dying
If you want to review your protection needs then please contact us, one of our experienced and expert advisers can help.