The main reason most people purchase life insurance is to give their family a replacement for their income if they were to pass away. So many people who are not in the paid workforce because of full-time family caregiving assume they don’t need life insurance. However, stay-at-home parents and those who stay home to care for disabled or elderly relatives provide a significant financial contribution to their families.
How Stay-at-Home Parents Provide Financial Support
Stay-at-home parents may not receive a paycheck, but their labor is crucial support for their families. If they weren’t available to care for children, handle school responsibilities, prepare meals, do the grocery shopping, clean, or manage other household tasks, the remaining family members would need to find someone else to take on those responsibilities.
Childcare alone is a large expense for most families, a cost that stay-at-home parents dramatically
reduce. Of the respondents to Care.com’s 2021 Cost of Care Survey, 85 percent report spending 10 percent or more of their family’s income on childcare. And in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic, childcare is more expensive and harder to find than ever. The eldercare situation isn’t any easier.
If something were to happen to the stay-at-home parent, the family would have to scramble to find a childcare provider that would allow the other parent to continue working outside the home. And that parent may need to reduce their hours or take a lower-paying job to cover the care gap.
Other Reasons to Consider Life Insurance
A life insurance policy for a stay-at-home parent gives their surviving family members a financial cushion to help them replace childcare and domestic labor, but it also helps cover the stay-at-home parents final expenses. The National Funeral Directors Association reports the median cost of a funeral in 2021 was $7,848, another financial hit to an already-struggling family.
A life insurance policy for a stay-at-home parent could also be used to start a trust for the children. And it’s easier to get a better policy at a lower rate if you apply when you’re younger, so purchasing a policy now would come in handy if the stay-at-home parent were to get divorced down the line.
How Much Life Insurance Should You Buy
A final-expenses policy is the cheapest life insurance policy you can buy, and it usually doesn’t require medical underwriting. These policies, with benefits of a few thousand dollars, are better than nothing, but to truly cover the loss of a stay-at-home parent, you’ll want more.
Finding a good life insurance policy will depend on the age and health status of the stay-at-home parent, and you’ll also want to take into account the cost of living in your area and the flexibility of the working parent’s job.
At Kamm Insurance Group, we can help you find the life insurance coverage you need with premiums you can afford. Contact us to get a free quote.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/life-insurance/stay-at-home-parents/
