NEW DELHI: Working women in cities seldom consider themselves as breadwinners, have low protection quotient, as well as low life and term insurance ownership, a survey conducted by Max Life and Kantar IMRB has found.
“The ownership of life insurance and term insurance is lower in females as compared to males. Fifty-nine per cent of women in urban India own life insurance policies with only 19 per cent owning term policies,” said the survey held in 15 urban centres with a sample size of 4,566 respondents. On the other hand, 68 per cent of men in urban India own life insurance policies, while 22 per cent of them own term policies.
The study finds that 42 per cent of urban women’s earnings are being diverted to basic expenses. In comparison, 38 per cent earnings of men are spent on for basic expenses. This indicates that working women in metros tend to spend less on savings and investments.
That said, the savings objectives of working women in metros are focused more on saving for children’s education and less on old age security or for the untimely death of a breadwinner (only 33 per cent surveyed women saved for this).
While financial protection is abysmal among women, awareness level and policy ownership among men, millennials and overall urban population are not satisfactory either. As per the survey, urban India stands at the Protection Quotient of 35 out of 100, which is poor.
The study said two-third (65 per cent) of urban India own life insurance, while only one-fifth of them own term insurance (21 per cent) and close to 53 per cent are unaware of term insurance and its benefits.
Of those who own term insurance, as high as 57 per cent do not have any awareness of the sum assured they’re guaranteed on their policy. Additionally, 70 per cent perceive that term insurance is relevant only for the breadwinner of the family. More than half of the respondents (53 per cent) surveyed feel that their cover is insufficient.
“Term insurance, despite being the most fundamental and cheapest form of financial protection, still lacks a significant uptake in urban India. There is an urgent need for Indians to understand the true value of protecting one’s family from the uncertainties of life. We hope the results of this study would act as a wake-up call for consumers and the industry at large,” said Prashant Tripathy, MD & CEO, Max Life Insurance.