Long-Term Care - Important Information For Women
This may be the most important page on our Website because long-term care is truly a woman's issue. Despite that fact, long-term care is something few women adequately plan for.
Why is long-term care a woman's issue? Two words; longevity and caregiving.
Women live longer than men. Women have higher rates of disability and chronic health problems. Thus, women are far more likely to need long-term care. And, as you'll see from some of the facts and statistics below, women clearly need long-term care. Many (far too many) are impoverished as a result.
Women are also the caregivers. When their husbands need long-term care, wives are there. Unfortunately, because many women are widowed, there is no one there to provide their long-term care?
But before we depress or frustrate all the women reading this, we'd like to let you in on a most important fact few people are aware of. Women pay the same for long-term care insurance as men. That's true. Rates are unisex (at least for now); so while there is a far greater risk of needing long-term care, and a far greater likelihood of actually receiving benefits from a policy; women pay the same as men. If that doesn't make you at least look into long-term care insurance …
If you are a woman living alone (which means you are single, divorced, separated or widowed) it is especially important that you consider getting some long-term care insurance protection for your future. Click here to complete our simple online questionnaire. Do it for yourself.
If you are a woman married to a husband whose "never going to need this" let a long-term care insurance professional show you how a shared care plan can cover you … and if he's wrong (we know that never happens) allow him to tap into your protection. Click here to complete our simple online questionnaire. Say you're doing it for yourself though you'll both be glad you took action.
Reasons To Plan: Women Live Longer Than Men
Women outlive men by about five years on average. Women who are married, tend to outlive their husbands. A woman born in l960 has a life expectancy of 73 years, compared to 67 years for a man born in the same year. Women who reach age 65 can expect to live an average of 20 more years and those who reach age 75 an additional 13 years. A third of long-term care insurance claims begin between ages 70 and 79; over half (55%) begin after age 80.
More than two-thirds of Americans age 85 or older are women. Eight out of 10 centenarians are women.
Reasons To Plan: Women Need More Long-Term Care Than Men
Women spend twice as many years in a disabled state (as men) at the end of their lives: 2.8 years if they live past 65, and 3.0 years if they live past 80.
More than 70 percent of nursing home residents are women. Their average age at admission is 80.
Over three-fourths (75.7%) of residents in assisted living communities are women. Their average age at admission is 85.7.
Almost two-thirds of formal (paid) home care users and informal (unpaid) care recipients are women.
Among people age 75 or older, women are 60 percent more likely than men to need help with one or more activities of daily living such as eating, bathing, dressing or getting around their home.
Reasons To Plan: Women Are Unable To Afford Long-Term Care
Almost 70 percent of women age 75 or older are widowed, divorced or never married (compared to about 30 percent of men).
The difference in marital status is very important. Because women are much more likely to live alone, they have no one in their household to help with daily activities. Nearly half (48%) of women age 75 or older are living alone, compared to less than one quarter (22%) of men.
For women age 75 or older and living alone, the median household income as about $14,600 (2005). Married couples had a median household income of $35,000.
Reasons To Plan: Elderly Women Highly Vulnerable To Poverty
Elderly women are more likely than men to run out of resources in later life.
Divorced or separated women are the most vulnerable because they have lower incomes and fewer resources. The share of elderly women living in poverty is 37% for divorced or separated; 28% for widowed, 22% for never married and 10% for married.
Reasons To Plan: Women Receive More LTC Insurance Benefits
Roughly two-thirds of the $6.6 billion in long-term care insurance claim benefits paid in 2011 were paid for women needing care.
Reasons To Plan: Women Are The Nation's Caregivers
The typical caregiver is a 46-year-old woman who spends 20 hours a week providing care to her mother.
One in six caregivers provide 40 hours or more of care per week and women are more likely to provide high levels of care.
Approximately 75 percent of those providing home care are female -- most often a daughter. Women spend 50 percent more time giving care than men do.
When women become caregivers, they are 2.5 times more likely to end up in poverty and five times more likely to depend on Social Security.
Ready to act?
If you are a woman living alone (which means you are single, divorced, separated or widowed) it is especially important that you consider getting some long-term care insurance protection for your future. Click here to complete our simple online questionnaire. Do it for yourself.
If you are a woman married to a husband whose "never going to need this" let a long-term care insurance professional show you how a shared care plan can cover you … and if he's wrong (we know that never happens) allow him to tap into your protection. Click here to complete our simple online questionnaire. Say you're doing it for yourself though you'll both be glad you took action.
