Nearly seven out of ten single parents with children living in their households have no life insurance, according to a recent survey by Genworth Financial. This compares to 45% of married parents with children in their households who are uninsured.
"We were surprised to find that single parents – the group arguably the most in need of life insurance – are among the highest uninsured people in the U.S.," said Gregory Bucko, Director of Customer Innovation at Genworth Financial companies.
Financial considerations do not entirely account for the disparity. Some 56% of unmarried women who make more than $250,000 a year, do not own their homes and have children in their households lack insurance, the survey found.
"We find that many single parents are simply too busy – or even too scared – to properly evaluate their life insurance needs," said Gregory B. Fairchild, Associate Professor at the University of Virginia, Darden School of Business, who collaborated on the survey.
"The insurance industry has an opportunity to better educate consumers and give them the tools and resources to help protect themselves and their families,” Fairchild added.