Home |  Elder Rights |  Health |  Pension Watch |  Rural Aging |  Links |  Gallery |  Resources   

  SEARCH SUBSCRIBE  
 

Mission  |  Contact Us  |  Internships  |    

 



back

 

To Ban Gender Bias In Insurance, Pensions

 

The Wall Street Journal

November 6, 2003

The European Commission formalized a controversial proposal to ban sex discrimination on everything from insurance rates to private pension funds.

In the first step toward establishing a new law for the 15-nation European Union, the commission, the EU's executive agency, published draft legislation that would ban the use of a person's sex in the calculation of insurance rates and related pension plans. It also would ban banks from discriminating against women in lending.

The commission says the proposal, which has been taking shape this year, is the result of numerous complaints from EU citizens, men and women alike, about such discrimination. Trade unions and the European Women's Lobby have long sought new rules extending the ban on workplace discrimination to nonworkplace discrimination.

Anna Diamantopoulou, the commissioner responsible for the draft law, said banks and insurance firms exaggerate the significance of gender in their risk analyses. She noted that sex discrimination in such cases is banned in France and Sweden and all public-pension calculations, and cited recent studies showing that lifestyle was often more important than sex in determining risk.

She justified the proposals by noting trends toward increased women's employment and governments' encouragement of expanded use of private pensions . She said the law could be phased in over the course of several years to minimize the immediate impact on businesses.

European insurers responded in alarm, arguing that the proposals would seriously distort the EU's automobile-insurance and life-insurance markets and could raise prices overall. "The proposed directive may well lead to higher insurance prices for all consumers," said Daniel Schante, head of the European Insurance Committee (CEA), a Brussels-based industry lobby.

Ms. Diamantopoulou says the plan should result in lower health-insurance premiums for women and lower motor-insurance premiums for men. But Mr. Schante and other European insurance executives say the proposals, if endorsed by European governments and the European Parliament, would likely push up life-insurance rates for men and auto premiums for women.

"Young men in cars are very dangerous," said David Stephens, a director of Diamond Insurance, of the United Kingdom , which writes women's car insurance. Reflecting women's lower accident rates, Diamond charges as much as 40% less for a 17-year-old female driver than for her male counterpart, although the difference narrows as clients grow older.

Mr. Stephens said he wasn't worried about the future of his business, which has €200 million ($230 million) in revenue. "I would be very surprised if the European Parliament allowed through a directive that increased insurance premiums for women," he said.


Copyright © 2002 Global Action on Aging
Terms of Use  |  Privacy Policy  |  Contact Us