Life insurance for stay-at-home parents

Life insurance isn’t just for family breadwinners. The contribution of mums and dads who stay at home needs to be considered, too. Find out why the payout from a life insurance policy could be helpful if a non-working parent were to die unexpectedly. 

60-second summary

What you need to know about life insurance for stay-at-home parents, at a glance:

  • Life insurance for a stay-at-home parent could provide a lump sum payout if the person named on the policy dies.

  • The payout could help the surviving parent take care of childcare costs, funeral expenses and other household bills.

  • A joint policy is usually cheaper than taking out separate policies but will only pay out once.

  • You can add critical illness cover to a life insurance policy to pay out if you’re diagnosed with a serious condition.

Do stay-at-home parents need life insurance?

Life insurance for stay-at-home parents isn’t something you’re legally required to have, but it is worth considering.

The true contribution of stay-at-home mums or dads is often overlooked when families try to work out their life insurance needs. Just because stay-at-home parents aren’t earning, that doesn’t mean they aren’t essential to the household or don’t need life insurance cover.

Stay-at-home parents do a lot of unpaid work, from caring for children, to doing household chores like cooking and cleaning. It’s essentially a full-time job. And their work often makes it possible for a partner or other household member to go out and earn.

That’s why it’s important to think about who would do this role if the stay-at-home parent were no longer around. Paying someone else to do all this work out of your family’s earnings could be very costly.

How does life insurance for non-working parents work?

If you’re the stay-at-home parent named on the policy, your loved ones would get a life insurance payment if you died while the policy was running. This is usually paid as a lump sum.

The payment acts as a financial safety net that could help your partner keep on top of mortgage payments and other bills on a single income. It could also help pay for someone else to do what the non-working parent regularly did unpaid.

With a regular life insurance policy, you typically pay a monthly premium for a fixed amount of time – say until your youngest child turns 18. The cost of premiums will depend on factors like your age, health, lifestyle and the amount of cover you need.

You’ll be asked health-related questions during your application, with your weight, alcohol consumption and smoking all factors in calculating your premiums.

What can life insurance for non-working parents cover?

Life insurance for stay-at-home parents could cover some of the non-working parent’s responsibilities if they died, as well as other related expenses. These could include:

Looking after children

Bereaved children are potentially very vulnerable. If the main breadwinner in the family works full-time, they might have to arrange full-time childcare for any young children.

Alternatively, they might decide to give up work or work fewer hours to match the school timetable. A life insurance payout could make this more affordable.

Did you know?

The average cost of sending a child under the age of two to nursery in England full-time is £238.95 a week[1] – that’s the extra to pay on top of the current Government entitlement of 15 hours free weekly childcare for working parents.

The average weekly cost of hiring a childminder after school to 6pm is £81.26[1] across Britain.

[1]Source: Coram Childcare Survey 2025

Other unpaid work around the home

Some of the jobs a stay-at home partner or parent may do include:

  • Cleaning, housekeeping and home maintenance

  • Laundry and ironing

  • Gardening

  • Pet sitting or dog walking

  • Cooking

  • Tutoring

  • Driving

  • Caring for older or infirm relatives or dependants with special needs.

Funeral costs

In the immediate aftermath of the death of a parent, there will also be funeral costs to pay. According to SunLife’s Cost of Dying Report 2025, the average cost of a basic funeral now stands at £4,285. See more on funeral costs.

How much life insurance cover does a stay-at-home parent need?

It’s important to get the right level of life insurance. You’ll want to work out how much money you would need to help your family if you were to face a different kind of future.

Just think about what would happen if the stay-at-home parent wasn’t there. Imagine how much it would cost to employ someone to do these sorts of jobs. Or how much loss of income there might be if the surviving partner had to work less because they’re taking time off to look after children and ensure the smooth running of the household.

To work out how much cover you might need, see our life insurance calculator.

Types of life insurance for stay-at-home parents

As a mum or a dad, having life insurance can provide vital financial protection for your children. There are several types of life insurance options to consider:

  • Level term life insurance – this policy is set for an agreed period (eg: 20 years) and pays out a fixed sum to your beneficiaries if you die within this term. The amount of cover depends on the premium you pay each month.

  • Decreasing term life insurance – as the policy goes on, the payout decreases over time, typically in line with a repayment mortgage balance. So if you died after five years, the payout would be more than if you died after 20 years. This is usually the most affordable life insurance for people under 50.

  • Whole of life insurance – this type of cover tends to be the most expensive, because it offers a guaranteed payout. As long as you keep up with the monthly payments, you’re covered for the rest of your life for a fixed payout.

  • Joint life insurance – if you’re part of a couple, a joint life insurance policy will cover both of you. This is designed to provide financial security to the surviving parent/partner. This is cheaper than covering you both separately, but the policy would only pay out once, even if both people were to die while the cover was in place.

What else to consider with life insurance for mums and dads

Life insurance for single mums and dads

If you’re a single parent, your child may depend on you entirely for financial support. This makes the protection offered by life insurance well worth considering.

You may want to consider writing a life insurance policy in trust. This will separate the policy payout from the rest of your estate (which is subject to inheritance tax) and prevents it from being used to pay off any outstanding debts you may hold.

It could also pay out sooner, because the policy won’t need to wait for probate. Probate is the legal process of calculating your estate and its distribution after your death. This can take some time.

Applying for life insurance when pregnant

If you’re applying for life insurance when pregnant, you won’t need to worry about it affecting your premiums. Pregnancy isn’t considered like a medical condition that might affect your policy.

When answering health-related questions during your application you should state the weight you were before getting pregnant.

For alcohol consumption, you may be asked about both your current drinking habits (likely zero) and your history of alcohol consumption. Just answer honestly.

Finally, for smoking, life insurance providers will only classify you as a non-smoker if you haven’t smoked in the past 12 months. If you’ve only given up for the pregnancy, that won’t be enough. E-cigarettes, vaping and other nicotine products (like patches) will also count. See more on how smoking and vaping affect life insurance.

Bereavement Support Payment

If you’re married or in a civil partnership, your surviving partner may be entitled to a Bereavement Support Payment. Widows, widowers, or surviving civil partners must claim within three months of your death to get the full amount.

If they’re entitled to the payment, they could receive a higher rate if they get Child Benefit or they were pregnant when you died.

Rate

First payment

Monthly payment

Higher rate

£3,500

£350

Lower rate

£2,500

£100

While this can help cover some costs after a bereavement, it only offers financial support for 18 months. See more about eligibility and how to apply for the Bereavement Support Payment on GOV.UK.

Alternatives to life insurance for stay-at-home parents

When considering life insurance, there are some alternatives and add-ons to think about for stay-at-home mums and dads:

Critical illness cover

Critical illness cover is a type of income protection that you can add to a life insurance policy. It’s designed to pay out if you’re diagnosed with a severe illness or injury. The payout could cover potential lost earnings or make necessary adjustments to your home.

Family income benefit

Family income benefit is a type of fixed-term policy that pays out a monthly income rather than one lump sum. The total payout decreases over time.

This type of policy can be particularly useful for families with young children, as it can offer extra support with paying the bills until the children get older.

Child health insurance

If your primary concern is protecting your child, you might want to consider a child health insurance policy. This would allow them to access private health treatment if they were injured or fell ill. With private healthcare, they could potentially skip long waiting lists or access treatments that are unavailable through the NHS.

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Written by
Life, health and income protection insurance expert

For over 20 years, Tim’s been building and managing relationships with big brands for the benefit of customers. As our expert on all things life, health and income protection, he’s working hard to find the right products that look after you and those you love most.

Our content is written by a Compare the Market expert, backed by data and enhanced by AI. Find out how we ensure accuracy and quality in our Editorial Guidelines.

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