Bloomberg View has an article about declining rates of life insurance coverage. It purports to be puzzled by this trend, although I cannot imagine why. Hat tip to RealClearHealth for the link.
It seems clear to me two trends can account for most of the decline, oddly the article mentions neither. First, there are way fewer stay-at-home moms than formerly. Time was, many married women had never held a serious paying job, one that would support them if widowed. This is much less true today.
Second, among blue-collar people, marriage is becoming relatively less common. Out-of-wedlock children and cohabiting are much more common than formerly. I don't have data in front of me, but I'd wager adults in these circumstances rarely can afford life insurance or feel strongly enough committed to their partner to make the sacrifice life insurance entails.
On the other hand, data from the most recent year suggests wages among the less-than-baccalaureate degree populace are finally rising so perhaps the incidence of insurance purchase will increase.
