Herald and news., June 16, 1963, Page 29, Image 29

My
J7
J
WIFE INSURANCE:
What
is the
Dollar
Value
of a Lady?
NOT so many years ago I remember it clearly my
mother suggested that perhaps she ought to buy a life
insurance policy. My father was instantly outraged.
"Why?" he demanded. "Haven't I always taken care of you and the
children? I never expected you to contribute money to the family's sup
port. Why should you carry insurance?"
His reaction sounds unrealistic now, but it was not unique. A genera
tion or two ago, insurance for women was a rarity except for small
policies bought "to cover funeral expenses." The theory was that only
the breadwinner of the family needed full protection, and the bread
winner, of course, was generally the man.
But the harsh economics of our time plus the greatly increased
number of women holding jobs outside the home have brought about
a sharp change in attitude.
In 12 million American families, both husbands and wives work. So do
their grown children, including daughters. Therefore, some 25 million
women arc breadwinners today. They earn $55 billion a year an average
of $2,200 for each woman. Certainly the loss of this income would inflict
hardships on countless families.
The same holds true for wives who don't work outside the home. Such
a wifes worth is seldom considered unless her services are lost Then
her husband suddenly discovers that it takes thousands of dollars a year
to replace her dedicated, around-the-clock services with hired house
keepers and baby sitters. As a result, wives who don't work-as well as
those who do-are increasingly coming to rely on life insurance as a
safeguard for their families' future.
The extent to which this has caught on is dramatized bv simple
,he e"rl: I!Mn- life insurance carried by women amounted
to $10 billion: noif if totals more than S100 billion.
One factor in this growth is the extraordinary rise of group life in
surance; practically any woman who works can now participate in such
a plan. 'Croup gives women an opportunity to buy life insurance at a
low rate; and if they leave their jobs for any reason say to rear a
family-they usually find it foolish to abandon what they already own.
bo they convert their group protection to individual policies.
But apart from this, there have been many psychological reasons that
nave made women insure their lives.
To begin with, our women live in the most heavily insured country
in the world. Hard as it is to believe, we Americans spend $38 billion a
year on our life-insurance premiums. (This does not include the addi
tional b.lhons we spend on health, fire, accident, automobile, and other
kinds of protection.)
Our life premiums actually amount to more than half of the $08 billion
.TPTyu inCme taxes! You hear a vast "mount of griping over
,L lu mC?me tex: but we have become 80 insurance-minded that we
take this cost in our stride.
D ES'DES life insurance, women have insured themaelves in many other
XJ ways. too. After all, in a country where some 10 million persons are
injured in accidents every year, it's obvious that a woman can be hurt
" f "T7,!!8AmaJn: that 8 woman's 8urery can cost as much as a
mans and that fire destroys all possessions alike.
. m. m .u f in9urance- n are now covered almost as fully
as men More than 81 million Americans own some form of health-and-accident
insurance, and here the women are not far behind the men.
laJL-H iL'" ? maUer f life ini""-ance that the ladies have been
hem Jv. r a"d here' 83 We hRve 9een' they are finally averting
lift nil it' Ut Why' 1 talked tu mnv nien "ho had acquired,
0 recfnt,We?ks- ' 8sked for their "ons.
i, on ThT" y huSband and 1 have to small children. If there
wun "'.u"6 PUre f' il's that' bv the time they grow up. any
Z't wl. ?! " C"eKe eduCation is oi f e at a disadvantage,
mv h,hH m' I 8 V mi8''' "n eduction. no matter what happens to
te. c I ege : "thV bth C"rry policies that will guaran-
conege costs. That was my primary reason for buying life insurance."
FNitli Wrrfrlir. Jnr IK. KJ