Why single fathers need life insurance

Being a Dad, Alone:
How Life Insurance Can Help You Provide Support and Security for Your Children

Whether you’re a divorced or widowed dad, you may be one of the many fathers out there who sometimes feel they do not get enough recognition for their roles and responsibilities as a parent. This is especially true if you have sole custody.

Although single parenting is a role that has long been associated with mothers, fathers have long represented a significant portion of parents raising children by themselves. According to the Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support Report released in November 2009 by the Census Bureau, fathers have accounted for 17.4 percent of custodial parents for almost 20 years.

Whether you are the sole parent or you are providing child support; as a single father you often have to carry a large portion of the financial burden for your children. This is why life insurance can play an important role in ensuring the wellbeing and financial support of your children over time.

Although we don’t like to think about it, life, unfortunately, can suddenly be cut short. If such an unforeseen circumstance occurs, life insurance can help you support your children when you are no longer around to provide for them. When you think about it, it is quite surprising that almost half (four out of ten) of single parents do not own life insurance. According to the Life Foundation, of those who have coverage, almost two thirds believe they should own more life insurance.

According to 2009 Expenditures on Children by Families Report published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average two-parent household with income of less than $56,670, spent between $8,330 to $9,450 per year on expenditures for each child. For families with higher incomes up to $98,120, the average cost per child rises to $13,530. Moreover, costs tend to increase as the children age. And over time it all adds up. For example, the average middle-income family will most likely spend approximately $286,000 over the first 17 years to raise a child who was born in 2009.

Life insurance can help you ensure that no matter what the costs are for raising your children, you can feel confident that they will be taken care of no matter what. And if you can feel reassured about their future today, that’s simply one less thing for you to worry about tomorrow.