The insurance and long-term savings sector is placing greater emphasis on family-support measures as part of its wider diversity, equity and inclusion strategy, with new data showing significant increases in employer-funded surrogacy and IVF support.
A new update on the ABI’s DEI Blueprint showed that 66% of firms now offer surrogacy support and 69% provide IVF support. These figures marked rises of 13 and 19 percentage points since 2022 and reflected a broader industry view that supporting varied paths to parenthood is essential to building an inclusive workforce.
The sector is also strengthening return-to-work support. Forty-six per cent (46%) of firms now offer returnship programmes designed to help employees resume work after parental or extended leave, up 13 percentage points from 2022.
In addition, all ABI members continue to provide formal flexible working options, now considered a core retention and wellbeing tool across the insurance market.These policy developments build on the Blueprint’s commitment to supporting staff through major life events, including miscarriage and caring responsibilities.
The update also highlighted several broader shifts. Firms are deepening their data collection, with 59% now gathering information on socio-economic background, up from 51% in 2023, and 61% capturing neurodiversity data, up from 47% in 2022. The ABI reported that most companies have introduced measures aimed at strengthening workplace culture, including speak-up policy for reporting harassment or discrimination and zero-tolerance framework.
Representation at senior levels is also evolving. Women now account for 36% of director-level roles and people from ethnic minority backgrounds for 9%, both up from the previous year. However, ethnic minority representation at board level has slipped from 11% in 2023 to 8% in 2024, an area that the ABI said will require renewed attention.
Insurers also significantly increased engagement with the future workforce, with 2,622 young people participating in structured work-experience programmes in 2024 compared with 288 in 2022.
Liisa Antola, manager of DEI and Customer Outcomes at the ABI, said the sector must reflect the communities it serves and noted that progress in supporting working parents and new entrants showed meaningful movement. She also said that the ABI is working with members to strengthen the Blueprint and drive long-term improvement across the market through 2026 and beyond, with a clear ambition for the sector to become one of the most diverse and inclusive areas of the UK economy.
The next phase of the Blueprint will focus on improving DEI data, enhancing inclusive culture and widening representation at senior levels.
With the government prioritising the disability employment gap, the ABI is also assessing how firms can better support disabled employees within the insurance workforce.
