Women have come a long way in the last century. One hundred years ago, in 1919, Congress passed the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote. These days, we may take it for granted that women are key players in both politics and the workforce, but in some ways, women still lag behind. Many women, for example, lack vital paycheck protection. Fortunately, you can help! Here are 10 reasons to tell all working women the facts about disability insurance.
- Most mothers work outside the home. According to the Department of Labor, more than two-thirds of women with children under the age of 18 also participate in the workforce. Their families depend on their paycheck.
- Many women out earn men. Although men still earn more than women overall, 38 percent of women earn more than their husbands, according to data editor Mona Chalabi. If these women lose the ability to earn a paycheck, more than half of their family’s income could disappear.
- Many women are single mothers. According to the S. Census Bureau, 23 percent of children live with a single mother. The loss of a paycheck could be devastating for these families.
- Working women are educated. According the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 42 percent of working women have a bachelor’s degree. This helps them build high-earning careers – and creates a need for paycheck protection.
- Women may be taking over medical fields. According to the Department of Labor, 36 percent of physicians and surgeons are women. This number may go up in the near future. The Association of American Medical Colleges says that women accounted for more than half of enrollees in U.S. medical schools in 2017. As more women become doctors, they’ll need disability insurance.
- Women are filing more disability claims that they used to. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, men used to file more SSDI claims than women, but this is no longer true.
- Women have unique disability risks. According to the Council for Disability Awareness, pregnancies account for 25 percent of all short-term disability claims and 9 percent of all long-term disability claims. Healthy women might think they don’t need paycheck protection, but this proves otherwise.
- Many women are stressed about money. According to Credit Karma, two-thirds of women with debt feel overwhelmed by it, and half think they’re income feels somewhat or very low. Losing that income would make things much worse.
- Women are at a disadvantage when it comes to retirement. With lower incomes and longer life expectancies, women have a hard time saving enough for retirement. They can’t afford to lose a paycheck.
- Women often pay higher disability insurance premiums. This is because insurance companies have crunched the numbers and found that women are more likely to file expensive claims – in other words, women pay more because they need it more. However, not all policies look at gender as a factor when determining rates, and women can still get the paycheck protection they need at a price they can afford.
Help women protect their paychecks! Download Women at Work, the free disability insurance sales kit.