Increase in Life Insurance Enrollment Among Young People in the US Due to COVID-19 Spread

[Image source= Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] Last year, as COVID-19 spread, it was confirmed that life insurance subscriptions among young Americans significantly increased. Analysts attribute this to anxiety over the uncertainty of when something might happen.

According to the MIB Group, the increase rate of life insurance applications in the U.S. last year was 4%, as recently reported by The Wall Street Journal. The MIB Group is an organization comprising 430 life insurance companies in the U.S. and Canada.

Applications from young people aged 45 and under surged by 7.9%, leading the growth in insurance sales. Applications from those aged 45 to 59 increased by 3.8%, while those aged 60 and above slightly decreased.

A representative from the MIB Group said, "Young people were reluctant to subscribe to life insurance, but subscriptions greatly increased as COVID-19 spread."

Rachel Blank (41), who lives in Connecticut, said, "You never know what might happen. I could catch COVID-19 just going out to buy side dishes," explaining that she subscribed to life insurance last year.

According to the Journal, many life insurance companies set records for premium commitments last year. With the U.S. base interest rate cut, insurance companies inevitably faced reduced investment returns, so the increase in insurance sales is expected to be a considerable help to them.

Insurance companies mainly invest the money collected from customers in bonds to secure stable returns. As COVID-19 spread, the U.S. Federal Reserve significantly lowered the base interest rate, inevitably reducing investment returns.

Considering that people found it difficult to go outside due to COVID-19, insurance companies made efforts to attract customers by easing conditions such as blood and urine tests and implementing various other measures.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.