Indian women continue to be viewed as supplementary bread earners in families, finds survey

Since they are often engaged in taking care of home and their work places, most of them ignore their routine health check-up, unless a situation warrants it. As a country we continue to turn to males in the family as the Chief Wage Earner.

A survey, conducted by Apollo Munich Health Insurance in collaboration with Nielsen India Pvt. Ltd. in 19 cities found that despite a rise in health insurance claims filed by women, few women are coming forward to buy health insurance. Given the low awareness for the need of a health cover; the number of women opting for products that are tailored for them, has significantly gone down.

The survey revealed that more than 80% of men and women polled believe that the bread earner should be the first to be insured against life and health related risks. As India continues to fight for gender parity and seeks more women friendly policies, it is unfortunate that we are unable to break mindsets when it comes to the bread earner of the family. Out of the 2,284 people surveyed, over 2,000 people feel that the man is the Chief Wage Earner in a family.

The survey also found that 61% Indians agreed that they skip their breakfast and compensate it with a healthier lunch – more so in bigger cities in the North and South parts of the country. Women continue to be responsible for the health and wellness of their family and as a result over 61% women said that they take care of their families’ food and nutrition and tend to include salads and fruits in meals.

"Lifestyle ailments that are prevalent today are largely gender neutral, and hence it is imperative that women seek health insurance coverage for themselves. With more women becoming economically independent today and leading longer lives, women should consider individual health insurance policies and critical illness riders, etc, and not depend only on the spouse’s cover to mitigate their healthcare expenses. The insurance industry must come together to promote health insurance for the 65 crore women in the country to ensure that their healthcare expenses are met,” said Antony Jacob, CEO, Apollo Munich Health Insurance.