New research by Norwich Union reveals that many dads still have no real idea how much mum is worth and how much it would cost to replace her if the worst were to happen.
New research by Norwich Union reveals that many dads still have no real idea how much mum is worth and how much it would cost to replace her if the worst were to happen.
The key research findings were:
- One in six dads, when asked how much it would cost to replace mum in money terms, said under Ł5,000 a year – less than Ł100 a week!
- Mums are the ones who still get their hands dirty, doing the lion’s share of the chores around the house such as washing, ironing and cleaning
- One in three mothers don’t have any life insurance cover at all to protect their family in the event that something should happen to them
- Almost half of all mums don’t know what their partner earns and has in savings
Even though mum does so much, one in six dads believe that Ł5,000 a year would be enough to replace mum in money terms – that’s less than Ł100 a week, and a further 23% of dads think mum is worth less than Ł200 a week. These dads would be in for a big financial shock if mum were no longer around as the average cost of mum’s work is almost Ł30,000* a year.
One in three mums have no life insurance cover at all to provide for the family should something happen to them. Worryingly, almost half of all mums have no idea how much their partner earns and has set aside in savings.
Louise Goffee, spokesperson for Norwich Union, said: "Our research shows that not only are mums undervalued, but many of them have no idea of their partners’ financial status. If the worst were to happen to either partner then families could potentially face a financial nightmare. But it doesn’t have to be this way, families need to discuss their finances openly and plan for the future. "
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Press office contacts:
James Evans 01904 452791 Out of hours 07790 487105
Louise Goffee 01904 452617 Out of hours 07810 057362
David Gwyer 01904 452828 Out of hours 07800 699508
Lorna Wiltshire 01904 723251 Out of hours 07788 471849
Rob Pell 01904 452659 Out of hours 07968 934091
Notes to Editors
- Norwich Union is the UK's largest insurer. It is the UK's largest provider of life, pensions and investment products and one of the leading IFA providers. IFAs provide around 75% of the company's long-term savings business in the UK.
- Norwich Union has strategic alliances with building societies and other leading UK brand names including Tesco Personal Finance and The Royal Bank of Scotland Group.
- Norwich Union’s news releases and a selection of images are available from Aviva's internet press centre at www.aviva.com/media
Research facts
The research was carried out using a sample of 1,060 parents between 20 and 26 of February 2004.
*The Office of National Statistics has calculated that the value of unpaid housework and informal childcare is almost Ł700bn (ONS, Social Trends 33, 2000). Divided by the 24 million households in the UK, this comes to Ł29,166 a year.
What dad would expect to pay to replace mum
- 16% said less than Ł5,000 a year.
- 23% said between Ł5,000 and Ł10,000 a year.
- 32% said between Ł10,000 and Ł30,000 a year.
- 4% said between Ł30,000 and Ł50,000 a year.
- 5% of dads put the value of a mum at more than Ł50,000 a year.
Jobs that mums mainly do
The following proportion of mums say that the following jobs are mainly done by them:
- Cleaning the bathroom – 79%
- Doing the ironing – 80%
- Putting out the rubbish bins – 36%
- Grocery shopping – 74%
- Looking after the children – 57%
- Sorting out the family bills – 50%
- Washing – 85%
- Disposing of spiders – 35%
- Getting up in the middle of the night due to a noise – 31%
Life Assurance
- 30% of women in the survey said that they do not have life insurance
Do you know how much money your partner earns and has in their savings account?
- Almost half of all people (48%) said yes, they know (44% of men and 52% of women).
- 13% of men and 11% of women are not interested in their partner’s finances.