Persistent gaps in life insurance ownership
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Studies on this issue are clear: a significant gap exists in life insurance ownership between men and women. Why do women seem to shy away from these products? The answer is complicated.
Year after year, the trend continues: more than a few percentage points separate men and women when it comes to life insurance ownership. According to the latest data available in this country, in 2023, 58% of Canadian women had life insurance, compared to 69% of Canadian men.1
The difference is less pronounced in the United States, but still exists, with 48% of women covered versus 54% of men in 2025. Why are female clients less interested in these insurance products and, consequently, less well protected?
A traditional perspective
These disparities do not seem to surprise Valérie Le Roux, Vice President, Products and Partnerships at Humania Assurance. “In my view, it’s not so much the design of the products that discourages women from taking out life insurance, but rather the structural inequalities in our society: income gaps, career interruptions and the unpaid family responsibilities that result from them. The real obstacle lies upstream, in financial education and the way women are – or are not – made aware of the need to protect their economic value, including their unpaid work,” she says. According to her, the industry has a concrete role to play.
By putting recognition of this economic value at the heart of our product promotion, we can contribute to changing perceptions and, ultimately, help bridge this gap
Another overlooked factor: in a couple, the spouse who earns more – quite often the man – is considered the breadwinner and therefore the one who should be covered by life insurance. Here again, women are often left out of the equation.
Economist, speaker and consultant Francis Gosselin also points to persistent inequality in terms of income, fuelled in part by the career interruptions women experience, whether to give birth, care for a child, or support a loved one or elderly parent. “When financial resources are limited, people have to make choices and will tend to cut back on expenses deemed (wrongly or rightly) less essential, such as insurance,” he says. Jobs that are precarious and part-time, more common among women, are also a factor in their lack of access to better group coverage, such as the kind that would offer life insurance.
In addition, the fact that household chores are still divided along relatively traditional lines within couples also comes into play, even when the couple is two professionals. “Very often, women manage daily household affairs, while men handle matters related to wealth management. Since life insurance falls into the latter category, women are perhaps less interested in it,” he points out.
Lack of confidence
We might think that younger generations would shake things up, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. A recent survey by ÉducÉpargne2 reveals that among 18-to 34-year-olds, young women turn out to be more pessimistic and less confident than men with regard to their personal finances.
What’s more, even though their financial literacy has steadily improved in recent years, they continue to underestimate their abilities in this area.3 That said, insurance products are often complex and can be difficult to understand, which may discourage many of them.
Added to this lack of confidence in their means and knowledge is the persistent income gap between men and women, and the fact that women spend more on their families, which leaves them with fewer financial resources available to take out insurance. This combination of factors partly explains the gap in life insurance ownership.
Jimmy Lacoursière, a tax specialist at Desjardins Insurance, notes that the gender imbalance in business ownership also plays a role. “Certain life insurance products are closely tied to protecting business owners. However, there are fewer women at the helm of companies, which will necessarily have an impact,” he says.
Low coverage rates among the LGBTQ+ population
People who identify as LGBTQ+ report lower rates of life insurance ownership (40%) than the general population (51%), even though 68% are aware of their needs in this area. Furthermore, when coverage is purchased, it is often considered insufficient.
Although these statistics are drawn from a U.S. survey,4 they are representative of the situation throughout North America.
Why such a difference? According to the same study, people who identify as LGBTQ+ are more likely to express distrust toward insurance companies and their representatives. Moreover, one in five respondents mentioned that the fact the insurance professional shares their sexual orientation or is a recognized ally is one of the most important considerations when the time comes to take out a policy. Let’s keep in mind that in Canada, approximately 4% of the population aged 15 and older identifies as LGBTQ+, which amounts to about one million people.
References
1Survey in the 2023 Insurance Barometer Study 2023 by LIMRA and Life Happens.
2Sondage sur les préoccupations financières des jeunes de 18-34 ans, March 2026, ÉducÉpargne.
3From Clicks to Confidence: Using Quick Online Interventions to Increase Young Women’s Financial Confidence and Behaviours – A Gender Equality Research Brief - Canada.ca 2025, Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.
