The gender gap in life insurance ownership continues to disadvantage women, according to the 2025 Insurance Barometer Study by LIMRA and Life Happens, two American non-profit organizations dedicated to the life and health insurance industry. The study focused solely on the US market.
It found that the gap between women and men narrowed in 2025. Forty-eight percent of women have life insurance, compared to 54% of men. In 2024, only 46% of women had life insurance, compared to 57% of men, according to last year's survey. “This self-reported gender gap has persisted over the 14 years of the Barometer study and the 11-point difference matches the largest it has ever been,” found the 2024 Barometer study.
In Canada, we have to go back to 2023 to find data on life insurance ownership and the gender gap, as the LIMRA and Life Happens Barometer does not survey Canadians every year. The June 2024 edition of the Insurance Journal published Canadian data from the 2023 Barometer. It revealed that 58% of Canadian women had life insurance in 2023, compared to 69% of men.
It will be a while before more recent Canadian data is available. "We don’t conduct the Canadian Barometer or ownership studies annually. We will update the Canadian ownership study in 2026 and the CA Barometer in 2028. For now, the 2023 results are the latest," LIMRA spokesperson Catherine Theroux explained in an email to the Insurance Portal.
In the United States, the 2025 Barometer quantified the lack of insurance among women: 52 million say they need insurance or more insurance.
Across the entire population, the 2025 Barometer reveals that 40% of American adults say they need insurance or need more insurance. According to the study, this represents a lack of insurance among approximately 100 million adults. In 2024, 41% of American adults said they lacked insurance.
Cultures and generations
In the United States, the insurance gap does not only affect women. Regardless of gender, younger generations and people from certain cultural communities are also affected. Adult members of Generation Z and those from the Hispanic community are particularly affected, as shown in the following graph.
Financial security
29% of millennials don't see the value of insurance.
– 2025 Insurance Barometer Study, by LIMRA and Life Happens
According to the 2025 Insurance Barometer Study, 69% of life insurance policyholders in the United States say they feel financially secure, compared to 50% of those who do not have life insurance.
This benefit of insurance does not seem to resonate as much with younger people. The 2025 Barometer found that 29% of millennials do not see the value of insurance. However, the authors of the study describe this finding as an opportunity for the industry to continue raising public awareness.
According to an article published on the Insurance Portal on June 26, the 2025 Barometer also identified several barriers that prevent potential customers from purchasing life insurance. According to the LIMRA barometer, people aged 18 to 30 overestimated the median cost of a $250,000 term policy by 10 to 12 times more than its true cost. Forty-eight percent of millennials and 39% of Gen Zers said they do not purchase insurance or purchase more because of the perceived cost.
