The New York Times Economix blog examines health care reform as a women’s issue and why women can be at a disadvantage when it comes to the cost of insurance. In the piece, UMass Amherst economics professor Nancy Folbre writes:

Women need more health care than men because of the combined demands of pregnancy and family planning. The typical American woman who wants to have two children will spend about five years being pregnant, recovering from pregnancy or trying to get pregnant, and about 30 years trying to avoid unintended pregnancies.

Partly as a result, young women typically must pay more than young men for individual health insurance, unless they live in one of 10 states where “gender rating” is illegal.