If you go back to the 1950′s and earlier, our culture was built on the assumption that women would get married at the earliest age, produce children and look after the man who brought in the money. Then along came the 1960′s and the seeds of a sexual revolution were sown, feminism emerged, and assumptions changed. Today, it’s no longer assumed a couple will marry, birth-control is more routine as the falling birthrate shows, and more women go out to work. Indeed, more women than men are going on to high education and getting better grades and higher-rated qualifications than men. Nevertheless, if women do give into the biological urge, they usually fall into the traditional role of homemaker, i.e. they do the cooking and cleaning, nurse the children when they are sick and, when the young are fit and healthy, drive them to soccer practice or whatever else distracts them from texting their friends. At this point, the family is dependent on one parent bringing in enough money to pay all the bills. When thinking about life insurance, it is therefore not unreasonable to focus on the breadwinner. Without him, the family would be in immediate trouble.
Unfortunately, this ignores the reality of the multiple roles the stay-at-home parent adopts. If the children have yet to go to school, who is going to look after them during the day? Although grandparents and other members of the family can often help, this assumes they are willing and live near enough. Otherwise, can the family cope without a nanny? When slightly older, who is going to drive them to and from school and be available should they fall ill and need transport to the nearest bed? Can you rely rely on neighbors or the parents of other children at the same schools? Then there’s the question of all the cleaning and cooking? During the marriage or partnership, the men are not quick to volunteer to do the washing-up let alone any of the more demanding tasks. Why is this going to change should the cleaner disappear? Similarly, the father can buy in food but, in the long term, this is far more expensive than home cooking.
When you add up the additional costs of hiring all the people to replace the homemaker, it is more than the average breadwinner can afford. That is why is makes sense to insure the life of the stay-at-home soccer Mum. The couple should price both permanent and emergency help. For example, it is probably best to assume the current job would not last long if the father was continually having to take time off to deal with family problems at the school or home. The nature of the job may also be relevant if this involves a lot of traveling or work at unsocial hours. Making decisions about insurance is all about looking into the future. It costs nothing to get life insurance quotes through a site like this so you can price the premium rates. If there is any positive element in this, it is that the amount of cover needed to replace the missing partner is often less than you might expect. Adding this amount is relatively cheap life insurance.