Demographic trends, a globally mobile workforce and societal changes have created a brand new group of people for whom lifestyle insurance would be a massive boon: the millennial.
Emma Thomson, life office relationship director for Lifesearch, says: "This could be a great way to better engage with millennials, if the product and process design is slick enough to buy easily.
"This kind of concept in itself won't provide the full protection cover, but it could be that first step to thinking about protection against sickness or early death."
Andy Coles, development director at Lutine Insurance, part of Direct Group, said he agrees with comments that this would be a good route into protection for the younger generation.
Firstly, a lack of savings is one reason why more expensive, long-term income protection cover might not be as suitable for millennials as short-term insurance.
He explains: "Millennials often have limited savings to cover changes in disposable income."
Employment
He also points to changing lifestyles, whereby the younger generations tend to have more jobs in different industries than previous generations. It has been suggested a millennial could have 10 or 11 different jobs in their lifetime.
However, the idea of a job-hopping millennial might soon be a thing of the past. According to figures from Deloitte Global Consulting's latest survey, millennials are concerned about Brexit, uncertainty about the US economy, a global slowdown in China and social and political upheaval in Europe.
For this reason, the study claims this generation is less likely in 2017 to job hop or take up short-term contracts than they were even one year ago.
The study says: "Millennials seem especially concerned about issues that directly impact the individual or which create an atmosphere of threat and uncertainty.
"This anxiety might be why most would currently prefer a permanent, full-time job rather than working freelance or as a consultant on a flexible or short-term basis.
"Irrespective of perceived across-the-board advantages of working as freelancers or consultants, nearly two-thirds of millennials prefer full-time employment."
According to Deloitte's study, the reasons most often given for preferring a permanent role are:
- Job security.
- A fixed income.
However, flexibility is still key. In highly flexible working environments, the difference between those who see themselves leaving within two years (35 per cent) is just two points above those anticipating to stay beyond five years (33 per cent).
Among those in the least-flexible organisations, there is an 18 point gap (45 per cent versus 27 per cent). The difference is significant; if the pay is not going to be adequate, the working conditions have to be.
Affordability
In addition to job flexibility, many millennials choose flexible living in the form of rental accommodation, disencumbered by a mortgage. Not that many could afford to buy a house, with the rate of house price growth and inflation still vastly outpacing wage inflation in the US, Europe and the UK.
