Jill Mulligan | How SA's financial sector must evolve to support women

Every day across South Africa, millions of women wake up to a second, unwritten shift. Before they even step into a workplace or log onto a computer, they have already managed a set of complex logistics - from school runs to meal planning, elder care and household budgets.

But beneath this visible hustle lies an even heavier, often invisible, burden. Women are increasingly acting as the sole or primary financial anchors for multi-generational households. They are the shock absorbers of our society, navigating a unique intersection of financial pressure and emotional labour.

Yet if you look at the landscape of South Africa's financial services and insurance sectors, you would hardly know this demographic exists.

For decades, the financial sector has fallen into the "default provider" trap  - the outdated assumption that, for the most part, the primary financial decision-maker is a man. This systemic blind spot means that traditional risk models and products are failing the very women who are keeping South Africa's families, communities and economy afloat. It is time for a radical re-think.

Multi-generational dependency and the "invisible tax"

The traditional nuclear family is far from the norm in South Africa. Instead, our reality is beautifully complex, vibrant and deeply communal. But it is also financially demanding. Modern South African women frequently support what is known as the "sandwich generation" reality, but on a much broader scale. They are financially responsible for their children, their ageing parents and often extended family members who have been hard-hit by economic headwinds.

This reality carries a heavy price tag  - let's call it the invisible work tax. It is the unacknowledged mental and financial load of managing everyone else's risk. When a sibling loses a job, it is often the female financial anchor who adjusts her budget. When a grandmother needs chronic medication, it is her salary that absorbs the cost. When a plumbing emergency hits a relative's home, she is the default safety net.

Women are effectively operating as informal safety nets for their entire extended social circles - all while trying to build their own financial freedom, save for retirement and protect their personal assets.

The traditional risk model is outdated 

Despite the overwhelming size and economic power of this demographic, traditional financial services remain stubbornly rigid. Standard insurance and banking products are built on linear life trajectories: you buy a car, you buy a suburban home with a partner, you insure your immediate dependents and you retire. These models do not account for the fluid, multi-generational dependencies that define South African households.

Traditional policies often make it cumbersome, or prohibitively expensive, to add extended family members - aunts, cousins, adult siblings - to a single, comprehensive policy. And because women so often carry risk for multiple people, a single shock, like a vehicle accident or a critical illness, doesn't just affect them; it triggers a domino effect across an entire ecosystem of dependents, an interconnected vulnerability that traditional risk assessments rarely account for. Compounding this, the massive economic value of caregiving and household management is entirely excluded from traditional financial calculations. If a female anchor becomes incapacitated, the cost of replacing her unpaid labour is catastrophic to the household, yet standard income protection products rarely cover these nuances adequately.

By continuing to design products for a textbook demographic that does not reflect South African streets, the financial sector is trapping women in a cycle of underservice. We are asking women to fit into our outdated boxes, rather than building solutions that fit into their lives.

Closing the gap 

If the insurance sector is to truly support today's women where they actually are, we cannot rely on abstract, future-focused frameworks. At First for Women, for example, we recognised that we had to stop talking about what the industry should do, and start demonstrating what is possible right now.

To lighten both the physical and mental load women carry, insurance must go beyond the traditional transactional model of simply paying out a claim after a crisis. It must actively protect women's safety, time and peace of mind in real-time.

This is why every single policy we write is designed with the understanding that women require enhanced, proactive safety. We have built foundational safety features into our core offering to ensure women are never left to navigate emergencies alone, including Guardian Angel On Call, Road Assist, Home Assist and Concierge Service. 

By shifting the focus from reactive payouts to proactive, hands-on care, we are relieving the logistical and mental burdens that women have historically carried alone.

The economic imperative 

This shift is not a matter of corporate social responsibility or a marketing gimmick; it is a hard economic imperative. Women control a massive and growing share of wealth and purchasing power in South Africa. They are the chief financial officers of their homes, making the ultimate decisions on groceries, education, healthcare and financial security.

When an insurer fails to provide products that adequately protect a woman and her peace of mind, it leaves her entire support network vulnerable. Conversely, when you secure a woman's safety and financial resilience, you secure the financial future of an entire community.

We need to stop viewing the multi-generational South African household and the unique risks women face as an afterthought. By proving that insurance, for example, can be designed intentionally around women's safety and daily realities, we hope to set a new baseline standard for the entire financial sector.

*Jill Mulligan is Head of Marketing at First for Women Insurance.