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LIMRA data highlights women’s perceptions toward their workplace benefits and opportunities for improvement.

New findings from LIMRA’s January 2025 Consumer Sentiment Study finds 4 in 10 women say they are feeling high levels of stress about their household finances, 11 percentage points higher than men. 

In general, LIMRA research shows women typically have higher financial concerns, compared with men. Preliminary data from the 2025 Insurance Barometer Study, conducted by LIMRA and Life Happens, finds women are more likely to worry about having enough money to save for retirement, being able to save for an emergency fund, paying for long-term care expenses, and being able to support themselves if they become unable to work due to a disabling illness or injury. These concerns are even more elevated for younger women and women with financial dependents. 

Women value workplace benefits to help improve their financial wellness

Sixty-three percent of women agree that workplace benefits are integral to their overall financial wellness, and nearly 7 in 10 women say their employer should provide benefits that address their financial stress. Clearly, women value their benefits as part of their overall financial health, but, as LIMRA’s study suggests, there is an opportunity to help improve how women perceive their benefits.

LIMRA’s 2024 BEAT Study: Benefits and Employee Attitude Tracker reveals opportunities to enhance women’s experience with their workplace benefits. Improving women’s perception and understanding of their benefits can lead to a more satisfied female workforce and help improve their financial wellness.

Data show women are less confident and less satisfied with their benefits

According to LIMRA research, women are less confident in their understanding of their employee benefits, particularly life insurance and retirement plans. Women also feel less confident than men that they made the best possible benefit selections during their most recent open enrollment period (63% versus 68%).

Additionally, women are less satisfied with their overall benefits package (39% of women versus 46% of men are satisfied). Part of this is due to more women working part-time and not being eligible for insurance benefits at work. Yet, even when accounting for only full-time employees, just 42% of women are satisfied with their benefits, compared with nearly half of men.

This highlights a need for employers to provide more educational resources before and during open enrollment to help all employees feel confident about their benefits elections. While 6 in 10 women say they only receive information about employee benefits during open enrollment, 70% say they would prefer to get benefits information at least a few times throughout the year.

More frequent communications, reminders, and resources could help workers, particularly women, better understand the benefits available to them and might also improve their overall attitudes toward work. For example, more than a quarter of all women (27%) say they have high levels of mental/emotional stress and 56% say mental health benefits are very important to them. Yet, women are less likely than men to feel their employer is invested in their mental well-being (36% versus 39%). Employers could provide more frequent reminders about their employee assistance programs and review their benefits packages to make sure they’re meeting the needs of their employees.

As we recognize Women’s History Month, it is an opportunity for workplace benefits providers and brokers to help employers enhance their educational efforts to help working women improve their understanding about their workplace benefits. Providing tailored benefits, enhancing communication, and fostering a culture of well-being can lead to a happier and more engaged female workforce.

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