Its figures showed that men typically protect themselves with around 50% more life cover than women, with the gender gap becoming significantly wider the older people become.
While men aged in their 30s take out 26% more life cover than women, this gap widens to 94% for those in their 60s, Scottish Provident found.
Scot Prov warned women to act now to cover themselves, with the cost of protection for women set to rise substantially in December when the EU gender directive comes into the force.
HM Treasury has estimated that life insurance premiums will rise by 10% to 15% a year once the directive is enforced.
However, some insurance providers have predicted that life insurance rates could rise by as much as 20% for women.
Jennifer Gilchrist, senior product development manager at Scottish Provident, said: “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.
“We urge women to make 2012 the year in which they act to protect their families’ financial security.”
