23 April 2019
SINGAPORE, 23 April 2019 - A research commissioned by NTUC Income (Income) found that married couples (90% of respondents) perceived having life insurance as an act of care towards their families, with many (40%) agreeing that their spouse is uncaring if they were not covered by life insurance. Respondents (88%) saw life insurance coverage as their responsibility to ensure that loved ones were not financially burdened if something untoward were to happen to them. In this regard, respondents (75%) also expected their spouse to share the same responsibility.
Four in five respondents indicated that it is important to have detailed information about their spouse’s life insurance plan so that they will not be “caught off-guard” and can have peace of mind in the event of an emergency. Amongst respondents who were aware that their spouse owned a life insurance policy (85%), only 15% knew full details of their spouse’s life insurance plan.
While respondents (84%) believed that their spouse will feel more secure if they had a life insurance policy, two in five indicated that they would not proactively share details with their spouse, citing privacy (35%) and “bad luck” to discuss life insurance (34%) as key reasons. More significantly, 36% of respondents who were unwilling to share their policy details with their spouse were confident that they were well protected and hence, believed that there was “no need for spouse to know”. Only half of the respondents indicated that they had carried out research on life insurance policies and made the purchase jointly with their spouse.
Mr Marcus Chew, Income’s Chief Marketing Officer, said: “We observed that married couples often have specific expectations about how they show and receive acts of care from their spouse. For example, showing appreciation through gifts, giving words of affirmation and helping each other with tasks, amongst others. Hence, we were curious about how married couples view life insurance on the spectrum of care. Such insights are important as they help us understand the motivations that drive certain actions related to financial planning amongst couples as we are keen to learn how we can best help close the protection gap in Singapore1.”
Life insurance is not an obvious form of care
The top five acts of care listed by respondents included showing appreciation (30%), caring for sick spouse (28%), regular communication (27%), showing physical intimacy (26%) and helping with household chores (22%). But when asked if “insurance is an act of care that I show my family as it protects my family in the event something untoward happens to me”, nine in 10 respondents agreed with the proposition.
“Given that couples do not have the habit of sharing details about their life insurance plans with each other, bringing to the fore that life insurance coverage is a form of care is essential to help couples kick-start conversations on their life insurance needs and to plug protection gaps more effectively. Being married myself, I’m aware that couples have the tendency to sweat over small things and overlook what truly matters. Having adequate life insurance protection is one such matter and we would like to lead couples in Singapore to be more cognisant about the fact that true care may not always be obvious and to consider adequate financial cover in the event of death, disability and critical illness so as to close their protection gaps more intentionally,” added Mr Chew.
Safeguarding the family’s well-being is the primary motivator for life insurance purchase
Respondents ranked concerns of becoming a financial liability as the top trigger (52%) for purchasing life insurance. This was followed by protecting the family’s livelihood (50%) and the risk of contracting critical illnesses (46%).
More specifically, 58% of respondents were motivated to be protected by life insurance because they did not wish to tap on their savings should critical illness strike, while 52% believed that their family finances would not be affected as the life insurance pay-out would help tide over the family’s expenses in time of need. Forty-eight percent of the respondents were motivated by the fact that life insurance would help their loved ones maintain their standard of living. Amongst the respondents, those who were married with children felt more strongly about these motivations compared to their counterparts with no children.
The survey also noted that 40% of respondents felt that national insurance schemes provided insufficient coverage.
Children altered considerations for life insurance plans
Respondents (51%) indicated that they would not purchase life insurance if they had no dependants.
Those who were married with no children sought protection for critical illness, disability and death, while those married with children leaned towards savings and investment plans for their children, spouse and themselves.
Three in five respondents who were married with children purchased life insurance after their marriage and bought mainly critical illness, savings and investment plans. Amongst the same respondents, seven in 10 bought life insurance products for their children, focusing primarily on critical illness, savings and investment plans.
Shifting mind-sets to plug the protection gap in Singapore
Mr Chew said: “With the busy and demanding lifestyles Singaporeans have, it is not hard to see why most people would focus on fulfilling needs that are more obvious and present. Caring for our families should go beyond ensuring that their daily needs are met. We need to also prepare for the unforeseen circumstances. Discussing the need and benefits of having a life insurance plan more openly will not only close the knowledge gap which many now have about their spouse’s life insurance coverage, but to also break the taboo linked to talking about life insurance. This way, the family’s well-being and finances can be better protected, even when we are no longer able to do it ourselves. In this regard, we are keen to encourage couples to take such conversations openly and to make decisions together.”
The research, conducted by Nielsen, included focus group discussions and a survey, which involved 329 married adults aged between 25 and 49 years old. It sought to obtain insights on what Singaporeans expected from their spouse in terms of acts of care, their views on life insurance on the spectrum of care and their attitude towards and motivations for purchasing life insurance.
Click here to view the infographics.
Four in five respondents indicated that it is important to have detailed information about their spouse’s life insurance plan so that they will not be “caught off-guard” and can have peace of mind in the event of an emergency. Amongst respondents who were aware that their spouse owned a life insurance policy (85%), only 15% knew full details of their spouse’s life insurance plan.
While respondents (84%) believed that their spouse will feel more secure if they had a life insurance policy, two in five indicated that they would not proactively share details with their spouse, citing privacy (35%) and “bad luck” to discuss life insurance (34%) as key reasons. More significantly, 36% of respondents who were unwilling to share their policy details with their spouse were confident that they were well protected and hence, believed that there was “no need for spouse to know”. Only half of the respondents indicated that they had carried out research on life insurance policies and made the purchase jointly with their spouse.
Mr Marcus Chew, Income’s Chief Marketing Officer, said: “We observed that married couples often have specific expectations about how they show and receive acts of care from their spouse. For example, showing appreciation through gifts, giving words of affirmation and helping each other with tasks, amongst others. Hence, we were curious about how married couples view life insurance on the spectrum of care. Such insights are important as they help us understand the motivations that drive certain actions related to financial planning amongst couples as we are keen to learn how we can best help close the protection gap in Singapore1.”
Life insurance is not an obvious form of care
The top five acts of care listed by respondents included showing appreciation (30%), caring for sick spouse (28%), regular communication (27%), showing physical intimacy (26%) and helping with household chores (22%). But when asked if “insurance is an act of care that I show my family as it protects my family in the event something untoward happens to me”, nine in 10 respondents agreed with the proposition.
“Given that couples do not have the habit of sharing details about their life insurance plans with each other, bringing to the fore that life insurance coverage is a form of care is essential to help couples kick-start conversations on their life insurance needs and to plug protection gaps more effectively. Being married myself, I’m aware that couples have the tendency to sweat over small things and overlook what truly matters. Having adequate life insurance protection is one such matter and we would like to lead couples in Singapore to be more cognisant about the fact that true care may not always be obvious and to consider adequate financial cover in the event of death, disability and critical illness so as to close their protection gaps more intentionally,” added Mr Chew.
Safeguarding the family’s well-being is the primary motivator for life insurance purchase
Respondents ranked concerns of becoming a financial liability as the top trigger (52%) for purchasing life insurance. This was followed by protecting the family’s livelihood (50%) and the risk of contracting critical illnesses (46%).
More specifically, 58% of respondents were motivated to be protected by life insurance because they did not wish to tap on their savings should critical illness strike, while 52% believed that their family finances would not be affected as the life insurance pay-out would help tide over the family’s expenses in time of need. Forty-eight percent of the respondents were motivated by the fact that life insurance would help their loved ones maintain their standard of living. Amongst the respondents, those who were married with children felt more strongly about these motivations compared to their counterparts with no children.
The survey also noted that 40% of respondents felt that national insurance schemes provided insufficient coverage.
Children altered considerations for life insurance plans
Respondents (51%) indicated that they would not purchase life insurance if they had no dependants.
Those who were married with no children sought protection for critical illness, disability and death, while those married with children leaned towards savings and investment plans for their children, spouse and themselves.
Three in five respondents who were married with children purchased life insurance after their marriage and bought mainly critical illness, savings and investment plans. Amongst the same respondents, seven in 10 bought life insurance products for their children, focusing primarily on critical illness, savings and investment plans.
Shifting mind-sets to plug the protection gap in Singapore
Mr Chew said: “With the busy and demanding lifestyles Singaporeans have, it is not hard to see why most people would focus on fulfilling needs that are more obvious and present. Caring for our families should go beyond ensuring that their daily needs are met. We need to also prepare for the unforeseen circumstances. Discussing the need and benefits of having a life insurance plan more openly will not only close the knowledge gap which many now have about their spouse’s life insurance coverage, but to also break the taboo linked to talking about life insurance. This way, the family’s well-being and finances can be better protected, even when we are no longer able to do it ourselves. In this regard, we are keen to encourage couples to take such conversations openly and to make decisions together.”
The research, conducted by Nielsen, included focus group discussions and a survey, which involved 329 married adults aged between 25 and 49 years old. It sought to obtain insights on what Singaporeans expected from their spouse in terms of acts of care, their views on life insurance on the spectrum of care and their attitude towards and motivations for purchasing life insurance.
Click here to view the infographics.
1 On 26 April 2018, the Life Insurance Association, Singapore unveiled findings of the Protection Gap Study (PGS) 2017, revealing that Singapore’s mortality and critical illness (CI) protection gaps are approximately S$355bn and S$538bn respectively. Singaporeans and permanent residents are covered for 80% of their mortality protection needs and 20% of their CI protection needs. (Reference: https://www.lia.org.sg/media/1334/press-release.pdf)
