Why should insurance professionals monitor gender-equity issues? One reason is that social inflation persists, and today's juries are increasingly likely to slap any discrimination lawsuit defendant who's found guilty with an unprecedented settlement amount. Consider that the 10,800 women who are named in a class-action lawsuit against Alphabet Inc. and Google over gender-pay disparity are reportedly seeking $600 million in damages, according to Bloomberg. There's also the well-known business case for furthering workforce diversity: Companies that score well when it comes to diversity also tend to be industry innovators and more attractive to top talent, according to the World Economic Forum. Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives have been popular both within and around the insurance industry recently. But not all insureds may feel secure exploring or implementing such programs, which opens up an opportunity for commercial-insurance agents to step into their essential trusted-advisor role and help businesses come to terms with today's workforce equality mandate. What's more: Not all businesses and locations are on the same page when it comes to gender equity, as shown in WalletHub's recent reporting around the best states in the U.S. for women's rights. Researchers took into account more than a dozen metrics to determine where in the U.S. women are most and least likely to experience gender equality. The slideshow illustrates the 10 states at the bottom of WalletHub's list. Note that with the exception of the "Total Score" metric, all of the figures listed depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category and 50 represents the worst. There is cause for encouragement. The insurance industry continues to take strides to achieve more equitable workplaces, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Among these initiatives is the annual Women in Insurance Conference hosted by the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation. See also: |

• Recruiting for the future: Why diversity matters
• Forbes: Top P&C insurance employers for diversity in 2021
• Companies are improving with DE&I but more progress needed