Women and Life Insurance
Based on several recent studies and surveys, women tend to have less life insurance than men and there are more women without life insurance then men. There’s always been a general belief in the United States that the man in the family should be the “breadwinner” and the female should be the “homemaker.” In other words, the male makes the money and the female cares for the children and the household. However, this stereotype has long been shattered and females play just as large a role in providing for the family as men. Even if the man is the primary financial provider for his household, the female’s role as “homemaker” is just as important. Unfortunately, many people haven’t recognized these developments in the industry yet. Females are still almost universally underinsured, an oversight that’s proven to be costly for many families. Now people are quickly discovering that both men and women need an adequate amount of coverage. Here’s a look at several scenarios that everyone should consider when purchasing coverage.
Family Scenarios
- For women acting as the primary caretaker or homemaker for their household, it’s almost impossible to put an accurate estimate on your needs. Even though you may not be bringing in actual income, your work in raising the children and caring for the household is invaluable. You likely need a substantial amount of life insurance as your husband would be forced to either quit his job to stay home or hire a nanny for the children if anything happened to you.
- If you and your husband both work full-time jobs and bring in close to equal income, you’ll need enough protection to make sure your family can comfortably replace your income without substantially changing their lives. Would your loved ones be able to remain in your home? Could the children still attend college? These are the types of financial scenarios you’ll need to consider.
- One of the typical groups that completely neglect coverage are the single women with no children, either divorced or never-married. It’s easy to forget that even though you may not have children to provide for, you could leave behind thousands of dollars in debt or other financial obligations should anything unexpected happen to you. These burdens could fall upon your household, so you’ll want to make sure you have enough protection to take of them.
- Finally, for females that are single with children, you may have the largest needs of anyone. Sadly, recent studies show that single females who have children are the most underinsured out of all groups of ladies. Your coverage needs are crucial for your future and should be addressed accordingly.