Millions of Brits underestimating the cost of household labour

When families and partners start thinking about their life insurance cover, salary is usually the first measure that’s used to decide how much cover they need. But the contributions that a key member of the household make are usually more than just financial.

In MoneySuperMarket’s survey, over a third (36%) of people who spend time on household labour said they don’t know how much it would cost to replace their contributions to the home and one in five people (20%) estimated that it would cost between £500 and £1,000 per month⁴ if they had to pay for someone else to do these tasks.

However, a deep dive into this figure reveals that millions in the UK may be underestimating how much this costs by over £1,000 a month.

Data from the ONS shows that the average person in the UK does £2,115 worth of unpaid housework per month, which is the equivalent to the monthly salary of someone earning over £30,000 per year.

But MoneySuperMarket experts suggest that the real cost of replacing a key person in a household could be even more when accounting for the many invisible tasks we take on to keep our homes in order.

The ONS’s figure looks mostly at the physical labour involved in running a home.

This figure covers chores like:

• Transport

• Food shopping and cooking

• Cleaning

• Care for children, sick, or elderly relatives

However, it doesn’t take into consideration the hidden mental labour that we do to manage our households day-to-day. Tasks like scheduling appointments, planning holidays and celebrations, and managing the household budget are all vital jobs that are necessary to run a home.

If the person in charge of these kinds of chores passes away, they can add a lot of strain and stress to surviving family members.

As well as seriously underestimating the cost of household labour, an alarming 39% of people admitted in MoneySuperMarket’s survey that they haven’t considered at all how their partner or family will cover the cost of unpaid work if they pass away.

Only one in five (20%) people have life insurance and one of the greatest hurdles to get a policy according to our survey data is usually cost. Nearly a fifth (18%) of people that have gotten a life insurance quote gave cost as their reason for not buying a policy, while 22% of people who have never gotten a life insurance quote also said that they think a policy would probably cost too much.

But in our latest life insurance index, we found life insurance is still one of the most affordable insurance products available with a median price of around £25 a month, and policy prices have remained relatively stable over the last few years.

MoneySuperMarket expert, Kara Gammell, says “Our latest findings should be a big confidence boost for anyone thinking their age will get in the way of buying a policy.

“When you choose the right policy options and shop around, it’s very possible for someone in their forties, fifties, or even sixties to find an affordable life insurance policy that covers what you need.”

If you have a life insurance policy or are at the stage of considering one, it’s worthwhile to put extra thought into how much cover you really need.

If you die, your family might need more than general financial support, especially while they’re trying to find a new sense of normal and recover from the loss.