Microinsurance that Works for Women: Making Gender-Sensitive Microinsurance Programs

Addressing women-specific risks. Women face special health risks, such as those related to pregnancy and childbearing, those arising from greater vulnerability to diseases such as HIV/AIDS, and those related to longevity as women are more likely than men to outlive their spouse. These can be compounded due to their position in society: they are more vulnerable than men to domestic violence and often confront greater hardship if divorced. In their role as caregivers, women respond to the needs of dependents and income-earning activities are frequently made secondary to these responsibilities. Their informal sector activities are – more often than not – the only income opportunities for low-income women and also makes this segment more likely to fall victim to risks such as theft of assets and harassment by authorities. Addressing women as household risk and resource managers. Women play key roles in managing risk and resources for their families and are frequently their family's primary caregiver as mentioned above. As such, women are a natural target segment for insurance companies. These roles make women especially interested in strategies to manage and cope with risks (such as savings or microinsurance) because they are often responsible for dealing with urgent household shocks, such as the health care needs of children, losses to family income due to a spouse's ill-health or death, or ensuring the future of their children in the event of their own death.