How much life insurance do you actually need if you're the main earner?

If you're the main or higher earner in your household, "how much life insurance do you need?" deserves a real answer – not a multiply-your-salary-by-ten rule of thumb.

This guide walks through how to work out a genuine figure for your situation, why women are still more likely than men to be underinsured even when they're the ones earning the most, and where income protection fits alongside life cover.

Why a flat salary multiple usually falls short

A common rule of thumb says ten to fifteen times your salary, but for most main earners that is too low once the mortgage and years of family support are added up properly.

In 2026, Compare the Market surveyed 2,000 UK adults and found the average policy provides £189,200 of cover, while a typical household's real commitments, mortgage, debts, a year of income and the cost of raising a child to eighteen, add up closer to £356,000, a shortfall of around £165,000 (Compare the Market, 2026).

The blind spot for women who earn the most

Even when a woman is the main or higher earner, she is statistically less likely than a man to hold adequate cover, largely because assumptions about who needs protecting have not caught up with who is earning.

A third of women in the UK have no life insurance at all, compared with 16% of men, so women are twice as likely to be uninsured (Life Insurance Index, 2025, cited by Novitas Wealth Management). Median hourly pay in April 2025 was £20.27 for men and £18.87 for women (Office for National Statistics, 2025), and cover set up years ago rarely gets revisited after a promotion.

What to actually add up

Your figure should cover the mortgage and other debts, enough income for as long as dependents need it, future childcare and education costs, and a buffer for funeral and admin costs, minus savings or existing cover.

Average UK mortgage debt per household is £58,300 and average unsecured debt is £8,400 (The Money Charity, December 2025). Raising a child to eighteen costs around £250,000 for a couple (Child Poverty Action Group, Cost of a Child report, 2025). Add these to your family's income needs, then subtract savings and any death in service benefit you have.

Income protection deserves equal billing

Life insurance only pays out if you die, but as the main earner you are far more likely to be unable to work due to illness or injury, and this is the cover women are least likely to have.

Only 11% of women have, or are applying for, income protection, against 16% of men (The Exeter, 2023, cited by Teachers Financial Planning). Price it alongside life cover, not instead of it.

From Lucy, co-founder of Welleness

After each of my three maternity leaves, I realised how little thought I had given to what would happen to my family financially if something happened to me. I had quietly become one of the main earners in our house, yet our life insurance had been set up years earlier, at a much lower salary, for a version of our life that no longer existed.

So many women I speak to through Welleness hold the finances together day to day, yet protection is the piece left until later. What changed things for me was an ordinary evening with old paperwork and a calculator. It took less than an hour to see the gap, and I would rather every woman found hers on a quiet evening than have her family find it at the worst possible moment.

What you can do now

Pull up your payslip and life insurance documents and check the sum assured against your current income, not the income you were on when you took it out.

Ask HR or check your benefits portal for the multiple your death in service scheme pays, often two to four times salary only.

Get a quote for income protection alongside your life cover review, so you can see the real monthly cost of closing both gaps together.

Frequently asked questions

Is 10 times my salary enough as the main earner?

Often not, once a full mortgage and years of childcare are added up, so work through the actual numbers rather than a multiplier.

Do I need life insurance if I have death in service cover through work?

Possibly. Most schemes pay two to four times salary, unlikely alone to cover a mortgage and years of income.

How much does life insurance cost for a woman in her 30s or 40s?

It depends on age, health and cover amount, but a policy taken out earlier is typically cheaper.

Should I get income protection instead of life insurance?

They cover different risks, so many women benefit from having both rather than choosing one.

Here is what one Welleness member said after speaking to an adviser about life insurance and critical illness cover.

"I had the pleasure of talking to Lizzie when I was searching for life insurance and critical illness cover. Lizzie was friendly, knowledgeable and made me feel so at ease, especially as I really didn't know where to start! Lizzie advised me of initial steps, and I have full confidence that she will guide me through the whole process. She also recommended other financial advice and services so I will be speaking to her in the near future regarding investing. I will definitely be recommending Lizzie's services to my friends and family!" Jackie, Welleness user

If this has made you wonder whether your cover reflects where you are now, our free financial health check takes less than five minutes and covers six areas of your financial life. No judgement, no jargon, just clarity.

This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. For guidance specific to your situation, speak to a regulated financial adviser.