ABSTRACT
Taking out life insurance is a more customary practice among American adults than drawing up a written will. Many young adults take over insurance polices on their own lives from their parents, and once they begin their own families, the chances are strong that they will increase coverage to provide some economic cushion in the event of their death while children are very young. The impact of marriage and family responsibility on the motivation of adults to protect dependents can be seen by contrasting the prevalence of insurance and written wills between single and married adults. As childless adults get older their motivation to provide for nieces and nephews seems to get stronger and more narrowly focused on the fact of having no direct descendants of their own. The insurance industry has succeeded in persuading people in all walks of life of the desirability of carrying life insurance, and many employers automatically include some minimal insurance policy among employee benefits.
