Advisors can help fill life insurance gender gap, Limra says

With Women's History Month in full swing, Limra is highlighting the untapped potential of the women consumers in the life insurance industry and providing a number of reasons the life insurance sector should further engage with female consumers to foster industry growth.

The professional industry and research organization pointed to a notable insurance gap among women, with 54 million indicating a need for additional life insurance coverage.

Limra said life insurance ownership among men has consistently outpaced women’s ownership over the past 13 years, with LLimra’s 2023 Insurance Barometer Study showing 55 percent of men have life insurance coverage as opposed to 49 percent of women. That research found 44 percent of women acknowledged that gap, with four in ten planning to purchase insurance within the year.

According to Limra, the life insurance industry is positioned to address the widespread financial concerns among women, who are more likely to express significant worry about their financial security compared to men.

These concerns range from the risk of outliving their retirement savings (cited by 47 percent of women, versus 42 percent of men) to concerns about emergency funds (40 percent of women versus 35 percent of men) and supporting themselves financially through a period of disability or injury that prevents them from working (39 percent versus 36 percent).

Limra suggests life insurance policies can offer solutions to these financial challenges by providing benefits such as covering burial expenses, supporting retirement savings, and building multigenerational wealth.

It also found that financial advisors are more in demand among women, with one-quarter of women actively seeking professional advice, including 34 percent of single mothers. According to Limra’s research, the attributes women look for most in an advisor are trustworthiness (cited by 66 percent of women), experience (60 percent), and communication skills (51 percent).

“Ultimately, they want someone to help them succeed financially while not taking advantage of their lack of financial confidence," Limra said.

It said advisors and insurers can play a key role in debunking common misconceptions about life insurance among women consumers, including perceptions that it’s too expensive (shared by 42 percent of women), that it won’t benefit them personally (24 percent), and that insurance coverage is only for final expenses (20 percent).

Limra suggested that financial professionals and insurance providers should meet women where they are on social media, with their most preferred platforms for financial education being Facebook (63 percent), YouTube (51 percent) and Instagram (35 percent).