© 2019 IJRAR June 2019, Volume 6, Issue 2 www.ijrar.

org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138)

Life Insurance Penetration among College Teachers

in Kerala
1
Dr Felice Joy and 2Dr Vineeth K M
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, MES College Kochi, Munadamveli,
Ernakulam, Kerala, India - 682507
2
Assistant Professor, Post Graduate and Research Department of Commerce
Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, Kerala, India – 682011

ABSTRACT
Financial Anxiety is a phenomenon among most of the middle and lower income households. But it can grow big even in a higher
income group if they are not properly covered by insurance against unforeseen risks. College teachers are perceived to have
reasonable pay scales and better financial literacy. This paper aims to assess the life insurance penetration and financial anxiety
among college teachers in Kerala. It was found that serious disparity among the regular stream and self financing stream pay scales
poses deep issues in financial anxiety and financial health at large. The life insurance penetration even at the higher income groups is
not found to be comprehensive considering the Human Life Value metrics of life insurance. This alarm for more awareness drives to
educate the public at large.
Key Words: Investor Behaviour, Life Insurance Awareness, Life Insurance Penetration

Introduction
Unconscious mental processes are ubiquitous. However, little attention has been paid in the finance literature to date to how people’s
unconscious fantasies, needs and desires help drive their investment decisions, and markets more generally. Emotional finance which
is informed by the psychoanalytic understanding of the human mind sets out to explore such issues directly (Richard, 2018). There is
a scarcity of information concerning the emotional aspects of financial management (Shapiro and Burchell, 2012). The concept of
financial anxiety is a feature of civilised humans as they have thoughts about future events and contingencies along with present
commitments. College teachers when attributed as having better financial pay and literacy are not always up to the expectations when
it comes to financial decision making. This attracts research and policy interest.

Statement of the Problem

Financial Anxiety is a phenomenon among most of the middle and lower income households. But it can grow big even in a higher
income group if they are not properly covered by insurance against unforeseen risks. College teachers are perceived to have
reasonable pay scales and better financial literacy. This paper aims to assess the life insurance penetration among college teachers in
Kerala.

Objectives of the Study

 To study the Life Insurance Penetration among college teachers
 To study the association between demographic factors and Life Insurance Penetration among college teachers
 To study the extent of Life Insurance Cover among college teachers
 To study the association between demographic factors and Life Insurance Cover among college teachers

Methodology
The present study is empirical in nature employing primary data collected from college teachers from Kerala. Since, the population
was not finitely measured, structured sampling was not possible and random route was adopted. Final sample size of 50 was fixed
with equal representation from Government/Aided Sector and Self Financing sector. Along with simple percentages, Chi Square test
was also used to make inferences.

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Results
Analysis of the collected information produced the following results:

Table 1
Profile of the Sample
Variable Category Count %
Male 48 24.0
Gender Female 152 76.0
Total 200 100.0
Below 25 20 10.0
26 to 40 156 78.0
Age
41 to 60 24 12.0
Total 200 100.0
Government / Aided 100 50.0
Sector Self Financing 100 50.0
Total 200 100.0
Rural 56 28.0
Region Urban 144 72.0
Total 200 100.0
Upto Rs 20000 40 20.0
Rs 20001 to Rs 50000 84 42.0
Monthly Income Rs 50001 to Rs 1 Lakh 68 34.0
Above Rs 1 Lakh 8 4.0
Total 200 100.0
Source: Survey Data

Table 2
Life Insurance Penetration among College Teachers
Life Insurance Policy Count %
Never 16 8.0
Not at Present, but Wish to Have 44 22.0
Yes, having 140 70.0
Total 200 100.0
Source: Survey Data
Majority of the college teachers are already having a life insurance policy. Still is is alarming that 30 % are yet to take a life insurance
policy.
Table 3
Association between Socio Economic Factors and Life Insurance Penetration among College Teachers
Factor/Variable P Value# Inference
Gender 0.518 Not Significant
Age 0.001** Highly Significant
Sector 0.001** Highly Significant
Region 0.589 Not Significant
Monthly Income < 0.001** Highly Significant
Source: Survey Data
# Chi Square Test
Gender and Region didn’t have any association with Life Insurance Penetration among college teachers. Younger age groups are yet
to opt for Life Insurance. Life Insurance Penetration is significantly low in Self Financing college teachers. Teachers in the lower
income category are not able to opt for life insurance coverage.
Table 4
Life Insurance Cover among College Teachers
Life Insurance Cover Count %
No Policy Taken 60 30.0
Upto Rs 2 Lakhs 8 4.0
Rs 2 Lakhs to Rs 5 Lakhs 44 22.0
Rs 5 Lakhs to Rs 10 Lakhs 76 38.0
Above Rs 10 Lakhs 12 6.0
Total 200 100.0
Source: Survey Data

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© 2019 IJRAR June 2019, Volume 6, Issue 2 www.ijrar.org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138)

Most of the respondents are having a life insurance cover of Rs 2 to Rs 10 Lakhs. There were respondents with more than one policy.
Diagram 1
Type of Policy Taken

(Source: Survey Data)

Term Assurance and Money Back Policies are found to be favourites in this category.
Table 5
Association between Socio Economic Factors and
Life Insurance Cover among College Teachers
Factor/Variable P Value# Inference
Gender 0.912 Not Significant
Age 0.005** Highly Significant
Sector 0.006** Highly Significant
Region 0.916 Not Significant
Monthly Income 0.001** Highly Significant
Source: Survey Data
# Chi Square Test
Gender and Region didn’t have any association with Life Insurance Cover among college teachers. Younger age groups are yet to opt
for Life Insurance. Life Insurance Cover is significantly low in Self Financing college teachers. Teachers in the lower income
category are not able to opt for life insurance coverage. But it is also interesting to find that even teachers with higher income have an
insurance coverage upto Rs 10 Lakhs. This alarms the principle of HLV in calculating Life Insurance Coverage. Serious education
needs to be made in this aspect.

Discussion
Serious disparity among the regular stream and self financing stream pay scales poses deep issues in financial anxiety and financial
health at large. Disposable income can only create proper investment in insurance for most of the cases. Yet, the life insurance
penetration even at the higher income groups is not found to be comprehensive considering the Human Life Value metrics of life
insurance. This alarm for more awareness drives to educate the public at large.

References
Marteau, T., & Bekker, H. (1992). The development of a six-item short-form of the state scale of the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety
Inventory (STAI). British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 31, 301-306.
Richard Taffler (2018) Emotional finance: investment and the unconscious, The European Journal of Finance, 24:7-8, 630-653, DOI:
10.1080/1351847X.2017.1369445
Shapiro, G., & Burchell, B. (2012). Measuring Financial Anxiety. Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology and Economics, 5(2), 92-103.

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