Chasing after every member of the family, keeping the house clean, preparing meals, and juggling a million chores in a day, it is clear that a homemaker’s life is not an easy one. While some of us would have learnt this from experience at some point, most of us probably find ourselves looking at the job of a homemaker in a new light, given that we’re spending all our time at home over the past few months now. As we consider our work in comparison to the work of homemakers around us, we realise that one simply cannot measure the value of homemaking.

Homemaker’s contribution to a household is irreplaceable not just towards addressing fundamental well-being of each member, but also providing emotional assistance and ensuring financial balance. Homemakers are the force that hold a family together, work endlessly and selflessly to secure their loved ones’ present and future lives and therefore need to be celebrated in a manner that ensures their future well-being as well. Here’s how we can help homemakers ensure a financially sound future for themselves.

Life Insurance – A homemaker might not be the family breadwinner or income earner but still has a significant role to play when it comes to managing the household finance and has a larger human life value attached which will impact the family in their absence.

To ensure financial security of self, some life insurance products that homemakers can consider are ULIPs (unit-linked insurance plans) that could help increase savings and investments overtime; traditional endowment plans and money-back plans, which will help invest and save money while also providing a comprehensive life cover.

The homemaker can also play a crucial role in urging the earning spouse to buy a term insurance with adequate sum assured in alignment with his or her real value that can help ensure financial stability should the homemaker and the family outlive the earning spouse. Term plans bought with critical illness benefit provide a lumpsum benefit that can pay for the cost of care and treatment towards specific illness and recuperation expenses.

Health Insurance – Healthcare is an extremely vital component of our lives today, therefore rendering health insurance indispensable to your insurance portfolio. Medical emergencies can befall when you least expect, creating an emotional and financial upheaval in lives of not just the affected ones but also their families.

At a time when treatment costs are skyrocketing, a health insurance policy helps reimburse medical expenses of a host of injuries, hospitalisation, etc. Some also provide lumpsum payout benefits, outpatient department expenses, coverage for health check-ups, surgeries and vaccinations offering much needed financial backup.

Child Plans – As per a recent survey on financial protection, it was found that saving for kids’ education is the top-most priority for 69 per cent working women in Indian metros, followed by kids’ marriage which is a savings objective for 46 per cent working women in metros. A homemaker can invest in a child insurance plan that offers the perfect mix of investment, savings, and insurance in a single policy.

Several child plans also come with "Waiver of Premium" benefit that helps during the event of disability or unfortunate demise of the policyholder (parent), wherein the insurer on behalf of the parent pays all the future premiums till the policy term. Thus, the money keeps growing and the child does not fall short of corpus at maturity of the policy.

Home Insurance – Buying a house can be viewed as the single largest investment for most people, which makes it essential to insure the house to provide a sense of protection and financial security in case of an eventuality. A home insurance policy protects the structure of the house against man-made and natural disasters. A further comprehensive plan protects the contents of the house such as furniture, domestic appliances; valuables such as jewelry and art work at home, etc. Opting for the right kind of home insurance policy can bring peace of mind to both the breadwinner and the homemaker.

Savings Account – A savings account can act as a safe repository for the homemaker’s surplus funds. The bank offers a quarterly savings account interest pay-out on the saved money and the more money a homemaker deposits, the more interest will be earned. There are various types of savings accounts that a homemaker can choose from but must be encouraged at all costs to deposit their savings in the account with the intention to reap interests in a regularised manner.

The daily work of a stay-at-home parent or homemaker is more often than not taken for granted, but their contribution is so valuable that if evaluated in monetary terms would have a considerable worth for their skills and productivity. They will always be our ultimate heroes but with a cape of comprehensive financial security they can soar even higher, while continuing to be the wind beneath our wings.

The author is CMO of Max Life Insurance.