Life Coverage Gap Grows: 2021 Insurance Barometer Study

The percentage of participants who said they have life insurance fell to 52%. That was down from 54% in 2020, and down from 63% in 2011.

Individual Life vs. Group Life

The decrease in the percentage of survey participants with life insurance appears to be due mainly to a decrease in the number of people who get group life coverage from their employers.

The percentage of Barometer survey participants with life insurance who said they had only individual life insurance was 52% this past January. That was down from 55% in 2020, but it was up from 40% in 2011.

The percentage of consumers with only group life coverage, or a combination of group life coverage and individual coverage, fell to 48% this year, from 60% in 2011.

Demographics

Analysts have broken the new Barometer survey results down several different ways.

Sex: Thirty-two percent of the women surveyed, and 24% of the men, said they needed life insurance and had none.

Race and Ethnicity: The percentage of participants who said they needed life insurance and had none was 20% for the Asian participants, 27% for the white participants, 32% for the Black participants, and 33% for the Hispanic participants.

Income: The percentage of participants who said they needed life insurance and had none was 45% for those with annual household income under $50,000; 28% for participants with annual household income ranging from $50,000 to $99,900; 18% for participants with annual household income ranging from $100,000 to $149,900; and 17% for participants with annual household income of $150,000 or more.

(Photo: Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock)