Women's Risk in LIfe by the Chartered Insurance Institute Part 1

I read an interesting report the other day by the Chartered Insurance Institute. The report summarizes the current research on risks women have in life and how this affects their pension. The report called Women’s Risks in Life: An interim report into risk, exposure and resilience to risk in Britain today. It is summarized over the next few posts. For the full pdf report go here 

The report does not paint a positive picture but it does talk about how the insurance profession may improve its response to women’s needs. This involves understanding the current status of the profession’s relationships with women as customers and drawing on the Women’s Risks in Life work (this interim report and the full version to be published during 2017, and additional deep dives) to highlight areas of focus for reviews aimed at improvement and innovation. The problems faced by women in England are faced by women in all parts of the world.

There is still a significant pay gap with women earning far less than men. This has profound effects on women’s life choices, independence, resilience to shocks, and preparedness for later life

·       Women, and particularly those with children, are more likely to feel financially insecure. 1 in 2 women with three or more children say that their money would not last a month if they lost their primary income, compared with just 1 in 4 women without children.

·       Women are now outperforming men in education, being 9 percentage points more likely to go to university and those that do are 4 percentage points more likely to get a good degree. Women and men aged 22–29 now earn the same. However, a significant gender pay gap opens up later on; women working full time in their 40s earn 12% less than men. This is related to a motherhood pay penalty, whereby women who have children before the age of 33 earn significantly less than both men and women without children.

·       On average women in full-time work earn over 9% less than men, down from 17% in 1997.

·       Women are more likely to be low paid than men – they are nearly twice as likely to be earning below the statutory minimum wage (1.7% compared with 1.0%), and far more likely to be

Caregivers, Dementia and the Net

Dementia is a growing problem and the numbers are increasing. Conservative estimates put the number of people with dementia at 36 million worldwide. The majority of people suffering from dementia live at home and are cared for by their spouse or another family member. The stress and challenges of caring for a loved one with dementia often result in physical and emotional problems for the caregiver, which is one of the topics that COSCO Health and Wellness Institute delivers in our workshops. 

However, Internet-based support that offers information, personalized coaching and connections with other caregivers can improve depression, self-confidence and well-being for caregivers is a relatively new idea to help caregivers. Combined telephone and internet support seems to be especially effective for improving caregivers’ self-worth and depression.  

Caregivers are the invisible second victims of dementia, and it is important that institutions, society, and the government finally notice and recognize them for the important role they play – often at the expense of their own health and quality of life. These caregivers can devote several years caring for loved ones and coping with situations that are demanding, ever-changing and stressful. As a result, caregivers often suffer from physical and emotional problems

The cost of treating dementia is growing and the government has realized that support services for caregivers, often group sessions or one-on-one meetings and training with care experts, is important to help control costs. The reality is that intuitional care is costly and there is limited availability of institutional care beds. Studies have shown that the group sessions help to improve the mood and quality of life for many caregivers and help prolong the time a person with dementia is able to receive care at home.

While “face-to-face” support programs can be beneficial, they may not be available in all communities or to everyone who needs them. Also, caregivers may be unable or unwilling to leave their loved ones alone to attend the sessions. For these reasons, telephone and internet-delivered support may be a cost-effective alternative that more people will be able to benefit.

A high-quality systematic review by Eoots L, de Vugt M, van Knippenberg called A systematic review of Internet-based supportive interventions for caregivers of patients with dementia. found that in caregivers of people with dementia, internet support helped to improve some aspects of well-being such as self-confidence and self-efficacy (perception of one’s ability to manage a situation), as well as reduce stress, burden and depression. There didn’t appear to be any notable improvements to caregivers’ quality of life, coping skills or physical health.

Not surprisingly, the most helpful internet-based support programs were those that included more than just information, especially those that included personal connections, such as customized coaching and the chance to interact with other caregivers.

An additional and more recent high quality systematic review by  Jackson D, Roberts G, Wu ML, et al. A systematic review of the effect of telephone, internet or combined support for carers of people living with Alzheimer’s, vascular or mixed dementia in the community. also found that interventions that combined both telephone and internet support were the most effective at reducing depression and increasing self-efficacy in caregivers of people with dementia.

So, while internet and telephone support programs don’t relieve the symptoms of dementia, the right programs may help relieve the feelings of isolation commonly experienced by caregivers and should be supported and used.

Stressed, try this

Think back to a happy time  a really, really happy time in your life. Go back as far as it takes, to a time when you felt so light you thought you might float.

Do you remember it? The carefree feeling? The acceptance of the moment, of yourself, of life? Feeling unfettered by thoughts of the future and oblivious to the past?

Feel it a little longer...

There. Very nice.

A journey is like a haircut

Any attempt to measure one's progress in life by assessing their present physical surroundings, including a panoramic glance of their past, is seriously shortsighted. 

The reason being is that each journey, kind of like a haircut, should never be fully appraised until it's complete. Otherwise, one could mistake a miracle-in-the-making for a setback, loss, or the "wet-look.