Women do not value their own lives as much as men do, according to new research from Scottish Provident.
The trend is prevalent in all age groups but the difference in average value of life insurance taken out increases as the sexes grow older to almost double in their 60s.
And the provider warned that with the introduction of gender neutral pricing in December likely to result in increased rates for females, now was the best time to buy cover.
It released the data ahead of Thursday's International Women's Day and urged women to realise their true value and need for cover.
The gap is relatively small to begin with at around 23% amongst those in their 30s (average value of cover of £173,712 for men compared to £140,886 for women).
However it gets progressively wider and becomes a significant gulf for those in their 60s (£104,583 compared to £54,042) when men have almost twice as much (94%) cover in place.
Scottish Provident highlighted that the differential between men and women was emphasised by the worrying low levels of cover women take out, particularly in their later years.
‘The reluctance of women to protect their families' futures is particularly alarming as, for example, during their 50s many still have dependants and often debt in the form of mortgages, overdrafts and personal loans,' it said.
Jennifer Gilchrist, senior product development manager at the insurer, added: "It's a worrying situation, especially so when you consider factors like the increase in single parent families and increasing numbers of women working mean more families are now dependent on a woman's salary as the main earner in the household.
"At the moment we have a situation where females are taking out far less cover than males even though, with women living longer than men, it means that currently life cover for females is much cheaper.
"But that's about to change.
"With the new EU gender directive coming into force in December, the cost of protection for women is set to rise substantially, with some projecting a rise of around 20%, so we urge women to make 2012 the year in which they act to protect their families' financial security."
