“It’s burning in my brain, I’ll never forget it,” says Lynn Baudlow. “The storm hit me around midnight and yelled at me. It was so loud as the wind was rattling the windows. Then it sounded like there was a train nearby.
The day before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Lynn was a 22-year-old single mother who was evacuated east to Tallahassee with her 4-year-old son. Then she suddenly faced a horrifying decision. Her parents will change their minds and will not leave with her. They were riding a hurricane at home as usual.
“I couldn’t leave them,” says Boudreaux. “I looked back at the car and we went back home to wait for it.”
Extreme weather events affect everyone, but not in an equal way. Bankrate’s extreme weather survey found only 52% of female homeowners who say they are financially prepared for the costs associated with extreme weather events, compared to 67% of male homeowners. In fact, almost every measure in our study showed men exhibited a higher level of economic readiness than women.
why? The answer may be, in part, in the situation where Boudreaux and countless other women find themselves daily. Women are disproportionately responsible for care than men, and this applies to caring for children and older parents. As a result, economic disadvantages from gender pay gaps such as “maternal penalties” can reduce the likelihood of revenue and the ability to build adequate emergency savings accounts. Women who balance their limited financial and balance the majority of their care obligations often face increased risk and vulnerability compared to men when evacuating safely.
In 2005, during Hurricane Katrina, Limbowdrow and her son outside her house.
Gender pay gaps make women economically vulnerable to extreme weather
Protecting your home physically and financially from extreme weather can be a significant portion of your income, and gender pay gaps put women at a disadvantage. According to 2023 Census Bureau data, women with full-time employment earn 83 cents for every man earns. “For women of color, wage gaps are even wider,” says Alex Gary, Bankrate’s leading data reporter.
Nearly one female homeowner says she is not prepared for the potential costs associated with extreme weather events in the area. The costs associated with home ownership are far more than mortgage payments. The national average cost of home insurance is $2,242 per year as of March 2025, but you will need to take out another wind, wildfire, or flood insurance, depending on where you live. Next, there is the cost of completing the home update, which will help reduce damage from extreme weather, evacuation costs, supplying shelters in place, and funding for repairs in the event of damage.
These costs increase rapidly for everyone, but men may have a lower financial burden on average. Our extreme weather survey showed that 21% of male homeowners were “very prepared” for financial preparation at a level of potential costs related to extreme weather events in the region, compared to 14% of female homeowners. Also, more men (45%) described themselves as “a little more prepared” than women (38%).
Even if you have an insurance contract in place, there are costs that your insurance does not cover. Homeowners need the funds to pay insurance deductions that could cost thousands of dollars. Some services, such as water and mold repair, should be completed immediately to prevent further damage. Carriers will usually refund the costs of these services to the homeowner, but you may need to pay a deposit or full amount to get started. These types of situations are exactly the purpose of an emergency savings account.
“Because on average there’s less money to come in, women are at a higher risk of not having enough emergency funds in stock, which cost at least three to six months,” says Gary. “Our study at Bankrates found that 34% of men had more emergency savings than a year ago, while only a quarter of women reported the same thing.”
Economic safety can be equivalent to the physical safety of a woman during a disaster
The World Bank and the World Facilities for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GRDRR) have published gender aspects of disaster risk and resilience studies to understand gender dynamics during and after various disasters. Research shows that in the southern parts of the world, more women die from natural disasters than men. However, in global Northern countries like the United States, women are at a higher risk of death and disadvantages due to the “gender gap in disaster preparedness, access to public shelters, and access to mobility restrictions.”
A World Bank study found that social and cultural norms could also limit women’s ability to earn income after a disaster. Women usually handle the majority of the increased domestic burden caused by disasters and miss out on economic opportunities. A US-based study found that traditional gender roles “resurface” after a disaster. Women are relegated to more isolated obligations such as childcare and domestic tasks, and are excluded from decisions regarding financial and recovery efforts that support men’s opinions.
One of the seemingly universal consequences of natural disasters is the increase in sexual assault and domestic violence against women. According to the National Centre for Sexual Violence (NSVRC), overcrowding, stress and depleted resources are some of the key factors behind the rise of sexual violence during disasters. “I’ve never been to an emergency shelter before,” Boudreaux says. “And after reports of how bad it was throughout Katrina, I don’t know if I’ll do that.”
This underscores the need for women to have access to emergency savings to evacuate to a safe place. Bankrate’s emergency savings report found that 22% of US women have no emergency savings compared to 16% of US men. Residents in high-risk areas may need to be more difficult to avoid several times a year. Most evacuations last only a few days, but FEMA says families with small children should plan to leave their homes for 10 days.
It was horrifying, you could hear gunshots and helicopters everywhere. The police couldn’t go anywhere, so there was no emergency response… If you have enough savings accounts and you can leave town for a while, it’s just something that will be damaged, not yours.
– Lynn Boudreaux
Mother and Louisiana residents
1 in 10 female homeowners are uninsured
One surprising finding from our study is the different responses between male and female homeowners regarding policy knowledge and coverage. Almost twice as many women (17%) as men (9%) say they don’t know what homeowners’ insurance is. Additionally, 9% of female homeowners say they don’t have homeowners’ insurance, compared to 5% of male homeowners.
The ability to pay the homeowner’s insurance deduction is very important, especially if your home suffers significant damage. If the homeowner does not have enough funds to cover the deductible, the balance is owed to the contractor, which could result in delays in repairs.
Limbowdrow House after Hurricane Katrina, 2005.
The difference between male and female homeowners who say they can’t pay the deduction without paying their debt is 14% and 15%, respectively. However, most female homeowners (58%) said they could pay deductible home insurance without paying their debt, which is a lower fee compared to male homeowners (72%).
Regionality affects income level and affordable household insurance
Decomposed regional survey data highlights how high-risk locations and limited revenues exacerbate the financial challenges posed by extreme weather events. This is particularly relevant to female homeowners in the South.
17 states and Washington, DC, make up the southern region of the United States, according to the US Census. Of the 10 states with the most important gender pay gap between men and women, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma (each of the southern states) have created a list, with Louisiana at the top. Additionally, all three states are ranked highly for extreme weather risks and have the country’s most expensive homeowner insurance rates for these risks.
| state | Median female revenue | Women’s income as a percentage of men’s income | average. Home insurance costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruisana | $42,954 | 71.2% | $4,135 |
| Mississippi | $40,622 | 77.6% | $3,339 |
| Oklahora | $43,217 | 78% | $4,651 |
| *Rate as of March 2025 |
To give a more complete understanding of the wage gap between men and women, we can look at the median annual income for a state. Among the most expensive states in home insurance, five of them rank as the worst in terms of median income for women: Oklahoma, Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi and Arkansas reemphasize the financial burden felt in the South.
The southern states around coastal areas are particularly prone to extreme weather disasters due to severe storms, floods and tornadoes. The disadvantages caused by income imbalances between men and women are more consequential given the additional costs that many Southern homeowners need to spend on flood and wind compensation.
| state | Median female revenue | Median male revenue | average. Homeowner Insurance Costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansa | $42,335 | $51,383 | $3,151 |
| Kentucky | $45,960 | $56,322 | $3,501 |
| Louisiana | $42,954 | $60,294 | $4,135 |
| Mississippi | $40,622 | $52,323 | $3,339 |
| Oklahora | $43,217 | $55,420 | $4,651 |
| *Rate as of March 2025 |
Male and female homeowners take a similar approach to precautions
As extreme weather becomes more frequent and more intense, some airlines are limiting or eliminating the damage of some kind of extreme weather from insurance contracts. Efforts to reduce the damage of extreme weather and understand the complexities of homeowner insurance can help homeowners protect their biggest investments during times of uncertainty.
Our study asked whether any of the following has been done in the past five years as a precaution to protect homeowners’ property from damage caused by extreme weather events: Male and female homeowners responded in the same way as reviewing their home and automobile policies to ensure adequate coverage at 39% and 40% respectively. But what’s noteworthy is that more male homeowners say they’re investing in weather prevention strategies more than women. It’s 10% compared to 7%.
According to Boudreaux, she made several changes to minimize the impact that the hurricane will have on her life and financial situation over the course of 20 years after Hurricane Katrina. “We moved more inland. There’s a well, a generator. Our house is fine.” Boudreaux also says that while she didn’t have rental insurance to cover her belongings and two months of evacuation when she lived in her apartment, she knows all the details of the current homeowner’s insurance policy.
Conclusion
Money can’t buy happiness, but you can buy security and security. While women in the US have made great strides to narrow gender pay gaps, as extreme weather becomes more common, women and caregivers need to pay special attention to insurance coverage and prioritize the creation of emergency savings accounts. Homeowner insurance can do more than replacing or repairing your home. If your home is unable to live after a covered disaster, additional living expenses coverage can refund your living expenses and make it more feasible to choose a safe location. Emergency savings can help you get out of danger when last-minute shelter supplies and protecting them in place isn’t the best option. Ultimately, financial preparation and home insurance can give you, you and the person you care about, the opportunity to find a safer solution when extreme weather inevitably occurs.
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Methodology
Extreme weather survey
Bankrate has asked YouGov Plc to conduct the investigation. Unless otherwise stated, all numbers are from Yougov plc. The total sample size is 2,374 US adults, of which 1,293 are homeowners. Fieldwork took place between July 29th and 31st, 2024. The survey is conducted online and meets strict quality standards. We used both quotas positively during collections, non-property-based samples, and then used backend weighting regimes designed and proven to provide national representative results.
Gender wage gap study
To determine which race and ethnic groups have the broadest gender pay gaps, we aggregated and analyzed data from the US Census Bureau’s current Census annual social and economic (ASEC) supplements. Between 1988 and 2023, women’s revenue as a percentage of white non-Hispanic male women was based on the median annual revenue for full-time annual workers age 15 and older. To calculate the gender pay gaps for state, industry and employment, Bankrates aggregated and analyzed data from the 2023 U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) that shows the median annual revenues for full-time annual workers aged 16 and older. All data included in this study have been adjusted for inflation.
