Caley Horan
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- January 2022
- ISBN:
- 9780226784380
- eISBN:
- 9780226784410
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226784410.003.0007
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This chapter examines public debates over sex discrimination in insurance risk classification during the 1970s and early 1980s. Feminist activists during this period identified gender-based risk ...
More
This chapter examines public debates over sex discrimination in insurance risk classification during the 1970s and early 1980s. Feminist activists during this period identified gender-based risk classification as an impediment to women’s economic advancement and sought federal legislation that would mandate unisex rating in all forms of private insurance coverage. The insurance industry responded to charges of sex discrimination with the full force of its powerful lobby, ultimately defeating feminist efforts to equalize insurance access, pricing, and coverage for women and men. To combat unisex insurance legislation, industry leaders developed and disseminated the notion of actuarial fairness, an ideological construct designed to compete with feminist demands for equality. Widespread public acceptance of the industry’s rhetoric during these debates signaled the triumph of market-based definitions of fairness over social commitments to equality in American political life.Less
This chapter examines public debates over sex discrimination in insurance risk classification during the 1970s and early 1980s. Feminist activists during this period identified gender-based risk classification as an impediment to women’s economic advancement and sought federal legislation that would mandate unisex rating in all forms of private insurance coverage. The insurance industry responded to charges of sex discrimination with the full force of its powerful lobby, ultimately defeating feminist efforts to equalize insurance access, pricing, and coverage for women and men. To combat unisex insurance legislation, industry leaders developed and disseminated the notion of actuarial fairness, an ideological construct designed to compete with feminist demands for equality. Widespread public acceptance of the industry’s rhetoric during these debates signaled the triumph of market-based definitions of fairness over social commitments to equality in American political life.
Caley Horan
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- January 2022
- ISBN:
- 9780226784380
- eISBN:
- 9780226784410
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226784410.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This book charts the history of private insurance in the United States during the second half of the twentieth century. Focusing on the marketing, investing, and underwriting activities of select ...
More
This book charts the history of private insurance in the United States during the second half of the twentieth century. Focusing on the marketing, investing, and underwriting activities of select segments of the industry, it argues that private insurers played a central, but often overlooked, role in shaping American economic and social life.Less
This book charts the history of private insurance in the United States during the second half of the twentieth century. Focusing on the marketing, investing, and underwriting activities of select segments of the industry, it argues that private insurers played a central, but often overlooked, role in shaping American economic and social life.
