What’s the Real deal with family protection these days?

Family means many things to many people. For most they are our inner circle, the people we crave to spend time and share moments with, even when this can involve changing nappies or recalling trigonometry skills during homework hour. Family is our safety net, they are the ones we know will stick with us through thick and thin and, in turn, we would do anything to protect them.

In the Real Insurance Family Protection survey, we explore the lengths Australian parents go to in order to protect their family on a day-to-day basis.

It seems a significant part of parenting is taking every possible precaution to protect children through childhood and, naturally, parents go above and beyond to keep their children safe from strangers and other harms outside the home. For example, eight in ten parents (83.3%) reiterate crucial stranger danger warnings to their children, while a similar proportion opt for personally taking their little ones to school over using the school bus or other forms of transport (81.7%).

Australian parents’ protective nature is further manifested through regular background checks on babysitters (67.6%), and monitoring their children’s safety through the likes of tracking apps with over one third of parents using mobile technology to keep a close watch on their young ones (37.9%).

Parents go to all kinds of lengths to protect their family, from the food they choose in the supermarket to ensuring regular medicals for the whole family.  Four in five parents (86.5%) ensure their children bring a healthy packed lunch to school, and three quarters make sure their family attends regular health check-ups (76.4%). And with their family’s holistic wellbeing at the forefront of the minds of Australian parents, three quarters of parents are proactively teaching their children what to do in an emergency (75.9%).

Furthermore, Australians are doing everything they can to protect their homes and what lies within them. According to the survey, families across the country proactively secure their homes with nine in ten keeping their doors locked at all times (90.0%), and a similar number enforcing rules for their children about answering the door or the phone (84.5%).

While Australian parents can go to the ends of the Earth to implement endless rules and precautions for their family’s health and wellbeing, it’s not always predictable what curveballs life will throw. Unforeseen circumstances could be why one in seven parents (13.6%) spend more than two hours worrying about their family every day. In fact, on any given day four in five parents (80.4%) spend valuable time worrying about protecting their family.

Despite the majority of Australian parents worrying about the long-term safety of their families, there are solutions to relieve lingering anxiety. Australians can selflessly prepare for unfortunate and unexpected circumstances by preparing wills, predetermining caretakers for children, and insuring their own life, therefore protecting the livelihood of their family. With that said, the majority of people still have not set a will (56.6%), and two in five parents haven’t chosen caretakers for their children in the event of their death (40.4%).

Perhaps it’s the thought of mortality and leaving loved ones behind that is deterring people from organising caretakers, wills and cover for the family. Yet, these are some of the key ways parents can gain comfort and contentment in case fate takes a turn for the worst. Fortunately it seems peace of mind is readily achievable, with a substantial nine in 10 Australian parents (91.3%) agreeing that life insurance cover can ease the burden of a worried mind.

While the instinct to protect our family is innate in human nature, this also brings with it worry and concern. Nevertheless, covering our own life and the future of our family provides peace of mind, and enables us to confidently accept that our family members are getting the most out of their life and are fully protected along the way.