Interest in Life Insurance Stays Strong
New data shows that half of American adults (50%) say they have life insurance and that COVID continues to drive interest in securing coverage, according to initial findings from the 2022 Insurance Barometer Study, by Life Happens and LIMRA.
Nearly 1/3 of people (31%) say COVID-19 has made it more likely they’ll purchase life insurance within the next 12 months. When looking at interest by age or race/ethnicity, it is highest among Millennials (44%), Black Americans (38%) and Hispanics (37%).
Purchase intent is also at a record high: 37% of Americans say they plan to buy life insurance this year.
Need Gap
In addition, 41% of those surveyed say they need life insurance—or more of it. (That equals 106 million adult Americans). Those who are younger are most likely to believe they have a coverage gap: 47% of Millennials and 49% of Gen Z say they need (or need more) life insurance. In addition, 44% of women believe they have a need gap.
Life insurance is critical for many, as 4 in 10 households say they’d face financial hardship in six months if a wage-earner died. Nearly a quarter say they would struggle financially within a month.
For more on these initial findings, watch this video with Faisa Stafford, president and CEO of Life Happens, and David Levenson, president and CEO of LIMRA, LOMA and LL Global.
Stay Tuned
The full 2022 Insurance Barometer Study will be available on April 25. In addition, there will be a comprehensive supplement published in early summer covering Hispanics’ perception about life insurance, motivations for buying coverage, financial priorities and more.
In the last decade, the Hispanic population in the U.S. has grown 23% to 62.1 million. Their collective wealth has also skyrocketed, up 87% from 2010 to $1.9 trillion.
And according to this year’s Barometer Study, six in 10 Hispanic adults are uninsured. But, they are keenly aware of the importance of life insurance, with seven in 10 saying they need life insurance and 42% say they plan to buy within the next year, which is higher than any other race or ethnicity.