Joint financial decision making in Irish homes is most common

Equality in financial decision making is not reflected in the value of the financial protection put in place by men and women

Men insure their lives for up to 49% more than women, a survey by Royal London has revealed.

Life insurance provider Royal London surveyed 1,000 people across the country to get their views on how financial decisions are made in the home.

The survey found that while the number of men and women taking out life assurance policies is split almost 50:50, the sums assured on men’s policies tended to be anywhere between 17% and 49% higher than their female counterparts.

Barry McCutcheon, Proposition Lead at Royal London said, “Looking at the figures it’s clear that men insure themselves for larger amounts than women. From a life cover point-of-view, irrespective of it being a policy set up on a single or dual life basis males are, on average, insured for €58,647 more than females.”

The survey also revealed that 52% of people described household financial decisions as ‘completely joint’. Of those who don’t believe there is joint financial decision making in their household, more people believed woman have a greater influence than men, with 25% of respondents believing that women solely or primarily make the decision.

“In the past, men would have been viewed as in charge of the major financial decisions, like banking and financial planning, within the ‘traditional’ Irish family while women would have been seen to maintain control over the family’s day-to-day household spending. Our research would lead us to believe that there has been a ‘blending’ together of what would have been considered typical gender roles and responsibilities when it comes to financial household decisions as 1 in every 2 adults described making financial decisions as ‘completely joint’,” said McCutcheon.

While decisions on household budgets may be made jointly, there are still obvious discrepancies between the sexes when it comes to financial protection. “So despite there being a joint decision when it comes to financial decisions in the home, with financial planning, it seems that men are more likely to insure their lives for a higher amount than women,” McCutcheon added.

Written and edited by Amy Murphy, Journalism student from DCU.

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