Eye-opening research about who is shopping for life insurance

Life insurance is gaining popularity

In fact, the insurance trade association LIMRA found in its 2025 study of consumer intentions that 51% of respondents say they own at least one policy.¹

To earn your business a seat at the table with interested consumers, you need access to life insurance data about their distinctive wants and needs. As consumer expectations for relevancy and personalization grow, marketing life insurance solutions has become increasingly data dependent. To help our partners understand the middle-market life insurance demographic trends and drive winning distribution strategies, TruStage® is continuously scanning the consumer marketplace for actionable insights we can share with our people-centered partners. We call this our commitment to human intelligence.

In recent months, our team has discovered increasing interest in life insurance among certain segments of the consumer marketplace, including Black and multiracial consumers, members of the Gen Z age group and single mothers. What follows is a look at the unique circumstances, values and beliefs of these important segments of the life insurance marketplace.

Black and multiracial consumers shopping in the next five years

According to TruStage What Matters Now® multicultural and multigenerational research, Black and multiracial consumers are the most likely consumer segments to purchase life insurance in the future, with 42% and 43%, respectively, saying they expect to obtain a policy within the next five years. In contrast, white and Asian consumers were the least likely to purchase life insurance in the next five years, at 29% and 27%, respectively.²

Much of the mounting interest in policies among African American consumers may be tied to a well-documented protection gap. Black and Hispanic Americans report a higher need for life insurance protection than other groups, year over year. In fact, while Black Americans own more policies per capita than other racial and ethnic groups, those who do own coverage express a greater need for more of it — suggesting that even engaged consumers feel underserved.³

Gen Z needs proactive guidance, easy-to-obtain policies

Among the age groups surveyed in the TruStage research, Gen Z respondents offered perhaps the most surprising insight. A full 34% said they expect to buy life insurance in the next five years.² In its survey of consumers, LIMRA that found an even higher volume of Gen Z respondents reported needing more life insurance.¹

Although a significant number of Gen Zers want, and even plan, to obtain life insurance, it’s not the kind of task they seem to prioritize. Thirty-three percent of LIMRA survey respondents say the main reason they have not bought a policy is simply due to procrastination.¹ This emphasizes the need for life insurance providers to be both proactive and easy to work with when it comes to engaging the Gen Z crowd.

Single parents represent a significant and underserved opportunity

The number of single-parent households in the United States continues to grow. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were nearly 11 million single-parent family groups with a child under 18 in 2022 — and 80% of those households were led by a mother.³ This makes the life insurance gender gap particularly consequential: Just 48% of women have life insurance coverage, compared to 54% of men, and 43% of women say they need coverage or need more coverage.¹

The financial stakes for this population are high. A single-earner household typically has fewer safety nets, making life insurance not just a financial product but an important layer of protection for a family who depends entirely on one parent's income. For life insurance providers, the opportunity is clear: Affordable, accessible policies designed with single mothers in mind can address a very real and growing need.

Knocking down hurdles to financial coverage

Both LIMRA and TruStage human intelligence shows that each of the above consumer segments faces hurdles to obtaining life insurance. To name just a few: Black consumers report believing coverage is too expensive; Gen Z doesn’t like thinking about death; single mothers say they are balancing other financial priorities.

Of course, awareness of these lifestyle blocks is merely a first step toward earning the trust and business of these important consumer segments. Life insurance providers must also lean in on the strategy of acting on this intelligence.

TruStage is committed to not only understanding, but also responding to, policyholder hurdles so we can systematically help tear them down, putting greater financial protection in the hands of more Americans.

One example is our deployment of instant decisioning, which not only makes obtaining life insurance fast and easy, but also enjoyable. Digital experiences like this help consumers leap over their individual hurdles to financial freedom and get back to the other priorities of their lives more quickly.

That means no taking time away from the kids or the job for a medical exam. It means not having to set reminders to follow up on an application’s status. It means more time to chase down kids, work projects or personal passions — and more time to get back to the enjoyable parts of life.