According to the latest HL Savings & Resilience Barometer, many in the ‘squeezed middle’ age group lack adequate life cover, with only 43% having sufficient protection for their families. This concern is particularly pronounced for couples with children, where the figure drops to 26%.
Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, highlights the risk: “The squeezed middle, in their 30s and 40s, carry a huge weight of responsibility… It means they need the biggest and most robust safety nets, so it’s particularly alarming that so many of them fall into the protection gap.”
The Barometer assesses financial resilience by considering assets, life insurance, debts, child care costs, and protective measures like sick pay and redundancy cover.
Coles notes that coverage tends to increase with age but remains insufficient, especially for families with mortgages who often neglect the additional support needed for children.
Self-employed individuals face even greater challenges, with substantial cover gaps, despite better figures for life and critical illness cover.
Coles emphasises the importance of a comprehensive financial resilience plan: “We need to consider exactly what help our family would need if something was to happen to us, and ensure we have the savings and insurance in place to cover it.”
