Life Insurance Gender Gap

This blog recently noted a report in Texas showing disparities in who gets efficiently licensed to sell life insurance in the state.  In addition to the race/ethnicity disparity already covered in a previous post, the report also showed a gender disparity - with men passing the licensing exam at a rate of 57% compared to 51% for women (page 66).

Now comes news from LIMRA of a gender disparity in life insurance usage:

Just 56% of American women have life insurance coverage, compared with 62% of men, according to LIMRA’s Life Insurance Ownership in Focus, U.S. Person-Level Trends: 2016. While the amount of coverage women purchased spiked nearly 21% since 2010, researchers say it’s still inadequate relative to men at $160,782 vs. $206,357.

The article cites a few reasons why men take advantage of life insurance more than women, but could another be data like we see in Texas?  More men are licensed as agents, and women seem to encounter barriers to entry that men do not.

Does this contribute to the usage disparity?  It is question worth considering.