More Indian Women Joining the Workforce Drives Need for Term Insurance

India's female labour force participation rate rose from 23.3 percent in 2017-18 to 41.7 percent in 2023-24, according to data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. As more women take on the role of primary breadwinners, co-borrowers on home loans, and taxpayers, term insurance is becoming a vital part of household financial planning. Household budgets today rely heavily on two incomes to cover school fees, home loan EMIs, medical bills for ageing parents, and long-term investments. While families routinely build healthcare funds and save for retirement, term insurance is often overlooked even though all financial plans depend on the income funding them. Premiums for term insurance policies are typically lower for women than for men for the same amount of cover because insurers base pricing on risk and statistics show women have longer life expectancies. This pricing difference allows women to secure larger coverage or a policy for more years within the same budget.