It’s been a packed week here at Insurance Business, which is a proud media partner of the ongoing Dive In Festival. Coinciding with the global industry gathering is the release of poll findings on the gender care gap from AIG Life.
Conducted by Opinium among a representative sample of more than 3,000 UK adults, the AIG Life research found that women are nearly three times more likely to have to take time off work to look after children.
The study revealed that 74% of women say they are the main carer for children who take short or long periods off work to look after family. As for their male counterparts, the figure is a mere 26%.
Not all hope is lost though, as the numbers from the younger generation paint a more balanced picture, with 51% of men aged under 35 calling themselves the main carer for their children; 73% for women of that age group.
As for caring for elderly relatives, the figures are more encouraging as 62% of men believe they will be the main carer ahead of their partner while 76% of female respondents think it will be them.
However, only a third of women who take time out of the workplace to be a carer plan to return to full-time jobs compared to men’s 59%. In fact, the survey also found that 12% of the respondents have already either given up work or gone part-time to care for others.
“The debate about how to balance family responsibilities with work and the roles of men and women has been running for a long time,” commented Debbie Bolton, head of customer services & chief underwriter at AIG Life.
“Attitudes take a long time to change and there are signs that care giving in younger generations is becoming more balanced across the genders, but it is the case that many of us, including women, still believe caring duties rest solely with women.”
Bolton, whose firm offers income protection and care cover products, believes families need to consider where the care burden will fall as well as the financial repercussions if a family member is too ill to either work or care for others or if they themselves need to be taken care of.
“How will they manage financially if they have to give up work to care for a sick child, partner, or elderly relative,” she said. “None of us know what is around the corner, but we can take practical steps to plan for the future so we have the financial safety net to make choices based on what our family needs.”
