Women do not adequately protect their incomes when compared with men, according to a study by LifeInsuranceFinder.

On average women cover an income of $77,762, while men seek income protection for $93,531, the research shows.

The comparison website analysed more than 22,000 enquiries about life insurance products over the past two years.

LifeInsuranceFinder Money Expert Michelle Hutchison says this 20% gap exceeds the gender pay gap of 17.1%, as measured by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

There is a similar gap in life insurance, with women seeking $445,859 of cover on average, compared with $513,130 for men.

“Women need to value their worth equally as men, regardless of how much they earn,” Ms Hutchison said. “If they don’t, it can hurt their family if something was to happen to them.

“It’s very hard to put a price on your life, but having enough cover is a key issue with life insurance, because many people underestimate how much their family would need if they died.”

More men (70%) make enquiries about life insurance than women, according to the research.

“However, our insights show the trend could be turning, with the number of women enquiring about life insurance growing 33% in the past year, compared with 30% more men,” Ms Hutchison said. “Despite this improvement, we still have a long way to go before women value themselves equally to men.”