While several factors contributed to the spike, many reports pointed to the pandemic and the insurance awareness it brought on. People are looking at mortality like they've never looked at it before, especially that younger age group.
More than 22 million jobs disappeared during the early stages of the pandemic, and only 12 million were recovered, forcing many workers to leave behind their employer-paid life insurance through their employee health benefits packages.
About 54 percent of Americans had life insurance earlier this year, most of them through their employers. If you leave your job, that life insurance goes away. People who were losing their jobs or being furloughed were losing their insurance coverage and looking for ways to replace it.
The exact number of applicants filing for life insurance isn't known, as some have applied more than once and others have been denied.
Estate planning industry estimate that the number of people drafting wills and trusts is also on the rise because of the pandemic. 32 percent of people ages 18 to 34 drafted wills because of Covid-19, 21% of that group drew up the paperwork because they knew someone who had contracted the virus. The pandemic "was an event that made people face their mortality," Kirchick said. "It's making people think about getting their affairs in order."
Life insurance applicants typically fall into three categories: those 44 years old and younger, those ages 45 to 59 and those over 60. The percentage of applications in the youngest group skyrocketed by 18.9 percent in July and by 12.4 percent in August as the pandemic worsened. Overall, insurance applications for all three groups are up by 4 percent this year.
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