Many workers who have employer-sponsored group life insurance need help with buying more coverage.[@@]
MetLife Inc., New York, and Principal Financial Group Inc., Des Moines, Iowa, have mapped out the gaps in workers' life insurance protection in reports on 2 recent surveys released as part of September Life Insurance Awareness Month activities.
Researchers who surveyed 1,541 adult U.S. residents in August for MetLife found that only 51% of full-time workers with children or other dependents feel that they have enough life insurance.
Only 55% of participants say they have made any conscious effort to assess their families' life insurance needs, and even survey participants who have an obvious need for life insurance are going bare: 18% of the participants who have bought homes in the previous 18 months have no life insurance, and 32% of the participants who have had babies during that period lack life insurance.
The researchers who conducted the Principal survey, which focused on workers at small and midsize U.S. companies, found that 73% say their employers offer life insurance benefits but that only half understand the importance of life insurance benefits.
