Women's Day finds marriage insurance wooing Chinese(2)

Zheng Chen, a council member of the Chinese Association of Marriage and Family Research, thinks the rising divorce rate makes women feel insecure in their marriage as divorce can have a greater impact on them.

Compared with men, it is more difficult for women to remarry, and it is natural for them to seek financial relief in an era when wedlock is fragile, says Zheng.

The latest explanations to the Marriage Law have also been interpreted by women as pushing them further into an insecure position.

The explanations, issued by the Supreme People's Court in August 2011, stipulate that houses bought on mortgage by one party prior to the marriage are to be deemed as the personal property of the registered owner, rather than as the joint estate of the couple.

Many women complain that their rights are undermined as, in Chinese tradition, the groom buys an apartment and the new explanations obviously put women at a disadvantage and may encourage men's divorce intentions.

A survey in February by Chinese matchmaker network Jiayuan.com showed that about half of female respondents thought the new rule "lowers men's cheating budget." And 41 percent expressed explicitly that it "deprives women of their legitimate marriage rights."

"To a certain extent, marriage insurance like Red Rose could help women and it meets some of their psychological expectations," says Zheng.

In fact, Red Rose was created for the "weaker side of marriage," claims Chen Zhihua, the policy's designer. It was developed based on the fact that women in modern society face multiple pressures from society and family, Chen says.

Red Rose was put on to the market just one month after the Marriage Law explanations took effect.

However, some insurance insiders point out that marriage insurance is actually a pretty standard insurance policy and that it has simply been lent a fashionable name in the case of Red Rose.

Qian also admits that the insurance could not be relied on as a protector. "But it has definitely eased my pressure as a married woman," she observes.

MORE SAY IN FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

But there are experts who view marriage insurance in a positive light.

"Marriage insurance is an effective way for women to get involved in family financial management," according to Xiong Xiaoyan, associate professor at Jinling College, a women's university based in east China's Nanjing city.

"The popularity of marriage insurance reflects Chinese women's rising awareness of financial management. They no longer solely depend on the male," says Zheng Chen.

Chinese women are getting to have more say in family finances. Of the female respondents to a survey conducted by HSBC Life Insurance co. Ltd at the end of 2011, 63 percent said they were the financial decision maker of the family, 5 percent higher than the male respondents.

Apart from daily spending, Chinese women are enjoying rising status in family financial planning as they are more educated and professional, adds Lao Jianrong, CEO of HSBC Life Insurance.