Unique baby gift: Contribute toward life insurance for new parents

For the first time, a life insurance company has partnered with a baby registry to create a crowd-funded way for expecting parents to take out a life insurance policy that can protect their growing family.

Prudential Financial, Inc., and Babylist, the fastest-growing baby registry in the United States, launched a new strategic relationship on July 25 to create a term life insurance solution designed specifically for expecting parents, which is now available as an add-on to their baby registries.

An important distinction to note is that the coverage is NOT on the newborn, but for the parents.

Babylist conducted a national survey of nearly 5,000 expecting parents, and found that 97% percent said life insurance is important and 61% plan to get insurance in the next year.¹ Yet, planning to purchase often does not translate into ownership for the growing number of Millennials who are becoming parents,² as only 18% of Millennials own individual life insurance.³

A statement announcing the arrangement said the strategic relationship between the two companies will bring a wealth of informational content about preparing financially for a baby and provides the option to add Prudential’s life insurance* directly to their registry with just a few clicks.

“Having a baby is one of the most exciting — and overwhelming — times in life. We are pleased to partner with Babylist to make it easy to buy protection designed specifically for new parents. Expecting parents often feel financially pressed and may not think about how life insurance protects their young family and contributes to financial security,” said Salene Hitchcock-Gear, president, Individual Life Insurance. “One-third of registries new parents make in the United States are with Babylist. This strategic relationship between life insurance and a baby registry is a prime example of how we are engaging customers in new and unexpected ways.”

“I started Babylist because no other option gave me the opportunity to register for items I really wanted as a new parent, like dog walking and meals, in addition to the basics like strollers and bottles,” said Natalie Gordon, Babylist CEO. “Eight years and millions of registries later, Babylist is pioneering new options for expecting parents to register for exactly what they need. Given our customers’ interest in life insurance, we think that a strategic relationship with Prudential, a company that people have relied on for their protection needs for more than a hundred years, makes perfect sense for our users.”

Expecting parents who create a Babylist registry will see the option to select a Prudential policy alongside other preparing-for-baby necessities, like car seats and cribs, and ask friends and family to contribute towards the life insurance premium. A custom tool created by Prudential and Babylist helps estimate how much life insurance coverage is needed for their family. After funds are gifted to the expecting parents, they will have the option to visit Prudential’s website to apply for a term life insurance policy.

1 – Babylist survey, June 2018.

2 – Pew Research Center analysis of National Center for Health Statistics Data, May 2018.

3 – LIMRA, Life Insurance Ownership in Focus, 2016.

* Life insurance is issued by Pruco Life Insurance Company (except in NY) and Pruco Life Insurance Company of New Jersey (in NY). Both are Prudential Financial companies located in Newark, NJ, and each is solely responsible for its own financial condition and contractual obligations.

As with other registry products, the monetary gift made to help purchase life insurance will be administered by Babylist. Babylist is an independent organization and is not an affiliate of Prudential Financial, Inc., or any of its subsidiaries.

About Babylist: Founded in 2011, Babylist is the fastest-growing baby registry that lets expecting parents put any item from any store on one registry. Babylist serves expecting parents with its universal baby registry, newsletters, and Hello Baby, a digital magazine, combining data, content and technology to help expecting parents get the best for baby.

About Prudential: Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader with more than $1 trillion in assets under management as of March 31, 2018, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Prudential’s diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. For more information, visit news.prudential.com.