Beneficiaries or policyholders? The role of women in Swedish life insurance 1900–1950

Abstract

In the second half of the nineteenth century, women were depicted as dependents and beneficiaries and men as breadwinners and policyholders in Swedish life insurance sales promotions. Furthermore, life insurance was assumed to be a middle-class concern. The notion of the life insurance policyholder as ‘middle class’ and ‘male’ was first contested with the introduction of industrial life insurance, i.e. life insurance for the working classes and also, to a large extent, the rural population in Sweden. The industrial life insurance business contributed to the growth of a large proportion of female life insurance policyholders from the rural and working classes. This article illuminates the contrast between ideological representations of women as the opponents of life insurance in sales promotions and the real actions and roles of women in business history.