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According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in the 126 years prior to 2016, life expectancy in Australia for women has increased by 33.8 years. This increase is owing to better health care; however, the impact of this data also has implications for life insurance policies.
How gender affects your premiums
Although there are multiple factors that determine your life insurance premium, the two major factors are age and gender. Regarding gender, it is interesting to note that the media release from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicated that the life expectancy of woman increased from 84.5 years in 2015 to 84.6 years in 2016. Although this a minor increment, it is enough to rank Australian women sixth in the world, in terms of nations in which women live the longest .
Interestingly, the life expectancy of women has increased, whereas male counterparts’ expectancy has remained constant at 80.4 years for both 2015 and 2016. Also, based on the latest data, women outlive men by some 4.2 years. The reason for the difference is that men are more prone than women to health-related problems such as stroke, diabetes, and heart disease. If that were not bad enough, men on average, are more likely to die of internal injury than are women, being more reluctant than their counterparts to seek medical advice and assistance.
The impact of the latest data on life insurance policies for women
Taking into account the bias in favor of woman, depending on whether she is, for example, a non-smoker, a woman may initially receive about 20-45% discount by comparison with premiums for males. However, with the new data released, and because insurance companies make more on the premiums if the client lives longer, this implies that insurers will be making more profit out of women in the years to come. Therefore, the insurer is able to reduce the rate of premiums paid by women and still make a greater profit in the long term.
Nevertheless, irrespective of the general data released on life expectancy, when anyone applies for life insurance, he or she should ensure that they are being covered at a competitive rate.
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