Are we having the right conversations with women?

Long-term wealth creation and retirement planning are fundamental components of any financial plan. However, leading discussions with women solely on future wealth accumulation can overlook critical financial risks they may face during their working years.

Women’s careers do not always follow the uninterrupted income streams assumed by traditional life insurance and investment models. Career breaks, shorter working hours, childbirth, and a greater share of unpaid care and domestic responsibilities1 can affect earnings, impacting both short- and long-term financial resilience. There is also the fact that 42.4% of South African households are headed by women2.

These realities make it important to consider not only how much a client needs to save, but also how she would continue meeting her financial commitments if illness, injury, or an event such as childbirth affected her ability to earn an income.

This in turn means we may need to reconsider how we shape our financial advice. A woman who leaves a corporate role to consult independently or freelance, or who works part-time after having children, may not see herself as a traditional income protection client, but a more flexible career makes her ability to protect her income even more important.

This shift is already visible in claims data. Bidvest Life’s 2024 Claims Report3 shows that homemakers rank among the top 10 claimants under a form of cover designed for occupations that don’t fit traditional income protection criteria.

This report further shows that women accounted for 51% of income protection claimants, while 19% of all income protection claims were for childbirth, and hysterectomy was the leading reason for claims among female clients during the year.

More broadly, the report showed that clients were 4.5 times more likely to claim on income protection than on critical illness lump sum benefits, 15.3 times more likely than on death benefits, and 43 times more likely than on disability lump sum benefits. In addition, 52% of income protection claimants had made multiple prior claims, highlighting that income-related events are often not just once-off experiences.

These figures support an income-first approach to financial planning. However, income protection combined with critical illness cover can, depending on individual circumstances, provide more comprehensive cover, particularly as critical illnesses such as breast cancer is increasingly impacting younger women4.

The experience of a 30-year-old Bidvest Life client⁵ diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer – an aggressive form of the disease that lacks the three common receptors used to target treatment – supports this approach. Her policy included temporary income protection, critical illness income, and critical illness lump sum cover.

Her Temporary Income Protection provided uninterrupted income for a full year, from diagnosis, without her having to reapply for benefits in between periods of treatment. Her critical illness income benefit paid out 30% more than her insured monthly income, to help alleviate the cost of additional expenses related to treatment and recovery, while her critical illness lump sum cover helped address the immediate financial implications of her diagnosis.*

There is a human element to this case study: while undergoing chemotherapy, preparing for surgery, and focusing on her physical and emotional recovery, the client benefitted from financial stability. She was able to access the treatment she needed, be with her family, and allocate time and resources to regaining her health, without worrying about how she would meet her monthly financial commitments.

For advisers, the opportunity is to make conversations more specific. Rather than recommending risk products that meet a clients’ general needs, we should be exploring how a woman earns an income, who relies on it, how her career may change, what responsibilities she carries, and what could happen to her financial plan if her income were interrupted. It also means helping women see that their income can be protected even when their career paths aren’t as linear as men’s.

*Terms and conditions apply; cover is subject to underwriting

1 OECD 2 Stats SA

3 Bidvest Life 2024 Claims Report 4 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

⁵ Illustrative case study based on actual claims experience