Gender-inclusive financial and demographic literacy: Monetizing the gender mortality gap

Longevity crucially affects demand for pensions, insurance products and annuities. Consistent empirical evidence shows that women have historically experienced lower mortality rates than men. In this article, we study a measure of the gender gap in mortality rates, we call “Gender Gap Ratio”, across a wide range of ages and for four countries: France, Italy, Sweden, and USA. We show the stylized facts that characterize the trend of the Gender Gap Ratio, both in its historical evolution and future projection. Focusing on an example temporary life annuity contract, we give a monetary consistency to the Gender Gap Ratio. We show evidence that a Gender Gap Ratio that ranges between 1.5 and 2.5, depending on age, translates into a significant reduction of up to 23% in the benefits from a temporary life annuity contract for women with respect to men, against the same amount invested in the life annuity. The empirical evidence discussed in this article documents the crucial importance of working toward a more widespread demographic literacy, for example, a range of tools and strategies to raise longevity consciousness among individuals and policy-makers, in the framework of gender equality policies.