Survey: Men Believe They’re Better Prepared for Disaster Than Women

Men and women are on different pages when it comes to disaster preparedness, with males typically believing they are more prepared than women, according to a national survey by AxcessPoints, a California-based online disaster preparedness service that helps consumers safeguard insurance, financial and medical information.

The survey, taken by AxcessPoints in late October, found significant gender differences between the sexes, including the following:

• More than 36 percent of males said they are extremely or well prepared for a disaster, compared to just 22 percent of women. At the same time, 62 percent of men surveyed said they are either not very well prepared or not prepared at all, compared to 77 percent of women asked the same question.
• Asked whether their families have an emergency communications plan, 38 percent of males reported having one, as compared to 22 percent of women.
• Men and women have different priorities in responding to a disaster. When asked what item they would grab from their homes in case of an emergency, 39 percent of males said they would take financial documents necessary to help rebuild after a disaster, while only 27 percent of women said so. Family or wedding pictures fared best with the women, with 32 percent saying they would save those items first, as compared to only 14 percent of the men.

AxcessPoints CEO Karlyn Carnahan said the “common thread between both men and women is that they lack knowledge and have not spent the time to adequately prepare.”

For the insurance and financial services industries, the lack of preparation represents an opportunity to help consumers. The survey indicated that both men and women would rely on their insurance company more heavily than established relief organizations, such as the Red Cross or FEMA.

“Consumers have a higher level of trust with insurance companies than other organizations designed to provide disaster assistance,” Carnahan said. “That translates into a unique opportunity to offer a disaster preparedness solution to consumers across the country.”

Topics Trends