Insurance as a Catalyst for Women's Empowerment

The advocacy for women’s empowerment and equal access to opportunities has gained significant momentum over the past five years.

Industries like technology and engineering have been applauded for initiatives that advance women financially and professionally.

However, the insurance industry is often overlooked in that conversation.

Since the 1960s, women have used insurance as a risk management tool to sustain their businesses in the face of adversity.

Although technology and social media have aided the?popularity of insurance amongst women in recent times, more emphasis needs to be placed on the role of insurance in empowering and stabilizing women - especially financially.?

Insurance catalyzes women’s empowerment in the following ways:?

• Financial Preservation?

The prevalence of gender roles in present-day society shows that although more women are advancing professionally and contributing financially to their households, there is still a disparity in their earnings in comparison to their male peers.?

As a result, these women usually do not have enough disposable income to rely on if the breadwinner of their household is terminally ill or passes away.

Insurance benefits cushion the financial effect of such unforeseen circumstances, giving women the support that will stabilize them financially.

• Enabling Opportunity Exploration

Being ambitious and accessing aligned opportunities is important for women to evolve economically.

Unfortunately, women are sometimes unable to harness these opportunities because they do not have a safety net that is strong enough to protect them in case things do not go as planned.?

Having insurance coverage propels women with the confidence to explore their ambitions and opportunities seamlessly.?

A vivid example of insurance’s impact is a lawyer's calculated decision to take a break from her career to monetize her baking hobby by starting a confectionery business.?

A business insurance policy is one of the first things she invests in this new venture.?

This ensures that even if the business does not scale due to unforeseen circumstances, she does not walk away empty-handed.?

Additionally, fintech investment opportunities with embedded insurance have made investments less daunting and more seamless for women.?

Women who do not have an abundance of disposable income but desire fail-proof investment and wealth-building avenues often gravitate towards this.?

• Heightened Knowledge?

Through many of the covert benefits of different insurance policies, women gain insight and information that come in handy later.?

For example, an insurance provider could offer its business insurance customers free in-depth training on Companies Income Tax (CIT).?

Female business owners who are beneficiaries of that training will apply the knowledge gained to better structure their internal CIT. They could also do it for other businesses in exchange for a fee.?

This is one of the several ways that the insurance industry empowers women with extensive financial literacy, heightening their knowledge for them to thrive in their endeavors.?

• Debt Coverage?

Several studies have shown that men are better positioned for loan approvals because they often have better cash inflows than their female counterparts.

Women, on the other hand, find it more tedious to secure personal loans or funding to scale their businesses.?

The adoption of debt coverage insurance policies by more women could significantly even out the playing field, improving their chances of accessing loans for personal or business purposes.?

Debt coverage insurance covers the payments in the case that the borrower/insured is unable to make payment due to unforeseen circumstances like job loss, illness, or even death.?

Conclusion?

If more women get insurance coverage for their business, health, life, and other things that they want to protect, there will be a consistent surge in the collective progress of the female demographic over the next decade.?

Insurance can further narrow the gender inequality gap between men and women, providing women with more stability in their business and finances, crashing the number of women in poverty, and increasing their value to their households and society at large.?

Casava is making insurance enjoyable for women in Nigeria with affordable business and health insurance plans. Empower the women around you with a free health or business insurance policy at casava.com