MR Microinsurance_2012_03_29.indd - International Labour ...

16 Microinsurance that works for women
Anjali Banthia, Susan Johnson, Michael J. McCord and Brandon Mathews
Th is chapter is adapted from Microinsurance Paper No. 3, published by the ILO’s Microinsurance Innovation
Facility (2009), which was co-funded by Swiss Development Cooperation. Th e authors thank Inez
Murray (Women’s World Banking), Anna Gincherman (Women’s World Banking), Raven Smith (Zurich)
and Jonathan Tin (Zurich) for providing invaluable support for this paper. Th ey also thank Naila Kabeer
(Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex), Gabriele Ramm (consultant) and Patricia Richter
(ILO) for reviewing the paper.
For millions of women around the world, microinsurance cover can mean the
diff erence between life and death. Having eff ective coping mechanisms is crucial
for poor women, who not only face a heightened vulnerability to risk for themselves,
but who also shoulder the burden of managing their families’ risks. Over
the course of a woman’s lifetime, these risks can include health problems for herself
and family members, the loss of a breadwinner’s income due to death or
divorce, vulnerability in old age, worry over the care of children in the event of
her own death, domestic violence, job-related risks and natural disasters, as
shown in Figure 16.1. Any one of these risks can deliver serious and often devastating
fi nancial shocks to poor women and their households, potentially intensifying
poverty, instability and vulnerability.
Figure 16.1 Lifecycle events and risks for poor women
Business start-up
Education Marriage
Birth
Death Death
Death of a spouse
Old age Old age
Health
Natural disasters
Domestic violence
Lifecycle events Risks
Job-related risks
Childbirth
Divorce
Business investment
Poor men are confronted with many of these same risks. However, the impact
on poor women is far greater. Globally, women account for 70 per cent of the
world’s poor (UNIFEM, 2010). Th ey face disproportionate levels of physical vulnerability
and violence. Th ey earn less income, often from informal sector
employment, with less ownership and control of property (Mayoux, 2002).
When these vulnerabilities are combined with the responsibility of ensuring the
welfare and security of their families, it is clear that women not only have a
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