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Social Determinants of Life Insurance in the European Union
Life insurance is one of the substitute investments for social protection at the micro level for individuals and households. Like state social insurance, life insurance mitigates the social risks of aging, unemployment, reduced health, poverty and simultaneously saving for future well-being. Such social reasons and social surroundings and common economic factors affect life insurance. Demographic pressure with the aging of the population, the transformation of social protection and the influence of information and communication technologies impact the social determinants of life insurance. In this work, we assess the relationship between life insurance premiums and social indicators: demographic, labour and social protection in 24 countries of the European Union in 2007–2017. We found that the Gini index, health-care expenditures and average wages have the largest influence on life insurance. Other determinants, such as old dependency and life expectancy ratios, replacement of unemployment, population growth and self-employment, did not show a significant relation with life insurance. When analysing countries, we found a more precise picture: the selected social indicators have a significant impact on life insurance in the Netherlands, Greece and Italy and the smallest in Norway, France and Slovakia. The findings provide policy implications for the development of life insurance in the European Union, as well as for social policy and social insurance.
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