Cash point

As we celebrate International Women’s Day today – and with Mother’s Day just around the corner – it’s the perfect time to highlight family finances.

Or to be more precise the risk many are taking with their futures, and that of their dependents.

Three out of five women with children have no life cover and just over one in 10 have critical illness, according to new research from Scottish Widows.

That’s despite a third of mums admitting their household would struggle to keep up with the regular bills if they lost their income.

A lack of planning is leaving families in a vulnerable position. Workers need to check if they get any life cover via their job – many firms offer a death in service payment to dependents and critical illness cover as part of their benefits package. Then decide if you need to top that up with any additional cover.

It’s not just the main earner that needs consideration. A stay-at-home parent or part-time worker chips in a huge amount to the family finances with childcare, school runs and housework, which would be costly to pay out for should someone fall ill or the worst happen.