Many U.S. households are at risk:

• LIMRA’s 2010 life insurance Ownership Study has found that 30 percent of U.S. households (35 million) have no life insurance protection at all.

Many U.S. households are under-insured:

• Only 44% of U.S. households have individual life insurance, according to the Trends in life insurance Ownership study, which is conducted every six years by LIMRA.  This is a 50 year low.
• Half of U.S. households (58 million) say they need more life insurance – the highest level ever.
• Among households with children under 18, arguably having the greatest need for life insurance Quotes” href=”http://www.lifeinsure.com/lifeinsurance/quotes.asp” target=”_blank”>life insurance, 11 million have no life insurance coverage.
• Even affluent household ($100,000+ income) lack life insurance” href=”http://www.lifeinsure.com/life-insurance-tips/how-much-life-insurance.asp” target=”_blank”>sufficient life insurance.  One-third say they do not have enough coverage.

The struggling economy creates additional challenges:

• One in four U.S. households rely only on group life insurance to provide financial proection if a wage-earner dies.  These households may lose their only life insurance coverage if they become unemployed or have their work hours reduced.  In the past year, someone lost their job in 15 percent of households.
• Decline in owning life insurance has left many households vulnerable if a primary wage-earner died.
• Among households with children under 18, 4 in 10 say they would immediately have trouble meeting everyday living expenses if a primary wage-earner died today.
• Another 3 in 10 would have trouble keeping up with expenses after several months.

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