Women Spend Larger Part Of Salary On Household Than Men: Survey

Women spend close to 42% of their salary on household expenditure while men only spend 28% on household, revealed a survey conducted by Max Life Insurance. It surveyed 4,500 respondents in 16 cities. One of the key analysis of the survey revealed that women are grossly under-insured in comparison to men. They only save about 33% of their salary for future and that women’s savings focus more on children’s education than on old age and untimely death.

The percentage of women applying for life insurance was at 58% while 68% men from the pool had life insurance. “Term insurance, despite being the most fundamental and cheapest form of financial protection, still lacks a significant uptake in urban India,” said Prashant Tripathy, MD and CEO Max Life Insurance.

Most Indians feel that future medical expenditure might finish all their family’s savings and 50% fear that they will be badly impacted by the death of the sole-earner in their families. Thirty six per cent people said that their savings will only last for a year if they contract a severe illness or death. Around 20% will not have anybody to depend on in case of disability, critical ailments or death.

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People in the 25-35 year age group are at the bottom of the pyramid of financial awareness as most of them prioritised spends on gadgets, luxury and travel over protection. A mere 44% millennials knew of the word “term insurance” and only 17% owned it. But people in this age group who are married and have a family are more aware of it and 22% even owned it.

Women only save about 33% of their salary for future. Their savings focus more on children’s education than on old age and untimely death

Coming on to geographical distribution, people in South India knew more about insurance than people in North India. People living in Delhi, Lucknow, Patna and Bhubaneswar owned most number of insurance packages around 64-66% as against Ludhiana, Patna and Kolkata where only 15-36% people took insurance.

As much as it is important for all to insure themselves for future financial mishaps, women need to think about it even more. With the number of crimes that happen against women, it is important that we teach our young girls the power of saving and future financial stability.

More Stories by Poorvi Gupta