Scottish Widows has reported that 60% of women in the UK with dependent children have no life cover.
The research also shows that only 13% of mothers have a critical illness policy. 31% of mums admit their household would be placed at financial risk if they lost their income due to unforeseen circumstances. 25% claim they could only pay their mortgage for a maximum of three months, while 39% say they would have to use their savings to pay for such adverse circumstances.
Scottish Widows claims its research also suggests that many mothers are underestimating the value of their role within the household. 24% say that they’ve not taken out life insurance because it’s not a financial priority or they don’t think they need it. And 7% of mums without critical illness cover say they’d rather take the risk of not having it than take out a policy.
61% of women with dependent children also say their household would struggle to complete everyday responsibilities or pay household bills if they were to fall ill or pass away.
When asked how they’d cope should they or their partner not be able to work for six months, 29% of mothers say they’d rely only on state benefits.Furthermore, 57% don’t have the protection of a will or guardianship arrangement in place for their families.
Johnny Timpson, protection specialist at Scottish Widows, said: “Many mothers don’t consider having insurance as a necessity, with almost a fifth saying they don’t rate having critical illness cover as a financial priority. But there’s also the value of a mother’s contribution to the home, outside of employment. It’s just as important for full-time mums to be insured and just because someone doesn’t earn a salary doesn’t mean their contribution in the home shouldn’t be protected as it could be very costly to replace.
“The value of protection is to provide long-term peace of mind about having financial security in place for your dependents. And changes to bereavement benefits mean that it’s more important than ever for mothers to review their financial protection needs and seek advice to make sure their household is covered.”