For generations, we’ve seen Indian parents, especially fathers, going to great lengths to provide a better life for their children. And this love is not confined to family vacations or monthly pocket money. This love also reflects through the decisions they make to secure future and the late nights they work to fund it.
But times have changed. Today, the cost of raising a child from quality schooling and extracurricular development to higher education and healthcare has soared even further. At the same time, children's aspirations have also grown bolder and so have the expectations placed on their parents.
Modern parenting demands more than emotional readiness. It also demands financial foresight. And that’s where child insurance plans, are becoming essential with each day. Let’s dig deeper on this.
A new financial reality
In India, education comes first. Nowadays, raising a child today involves more than just school fees. The average cost of education in India has been on the rise. Between 2014 and 2018, the cost of primary education in India increased 30.7 percent, while graduate and postgraduate courses saw hikes of 5.8 percent and 13.19 percent respectively. The National Sample Survey Office report from 2020 revealed the average expenditure on education had nearly doubled over the previous decade.
Today’s children aim for diverse paths like coding bootcamps, sports academies, study abroad programs, all of which need capital, early planning and flexibility. If you add the unpredictable cost of paediatric healthcare, it becomes clear that traditional saving tools alone won’t be enough.
Parenting playbook has changed
Back in the 80s and 90s, life insurance was often taken in the name of the earning parent, primarily for tax benefits. Savings were parked in fixed deposits, post office schemes or PPF. While these worked in a less aspirational family setup, they now fall short.
Today’s parents want to be prepared for everything- be it international education, healthcare emergencies, startup funding or even long sabbaticals for their children to discover their interests. Flexibility and financial cushioning are no longer luxuries but have become requirements.
Child insurance policies, these days, cater to this new need set. They combine insurance coverage with savings or investment benefits to ensure that a child's life goals are not derailed by any unforeseen event.
Why child insurance plans matter more today
Here are some reasons why modern parents are turning to child-specific insurance plans:
1. Financial continuity after a parent’s demise
Most child life insurance plans include a waiver of premium feature. If the policyholder (typically the parent) passes away during the policy term while the policy is in force, the future premiums are either waived or paid by the insurer, and the policy continues. The child receives the stipulated policy benefits as planned in lump sum or staggered payouts upon maturity, ensuring that long-term goals like college or skill development don’t get compromised.
SBI Life – Smart Platina Young Achiever is designed to give parents long-term peace of mind. It’s a savings-focused life insurance plan that offers guaranteed returns, so parents can be sure their child’s future is financially secure, no matter what happens.
2. Building an education corpus
A child insurance plan helps parents plan ahead with a clear goal. Need ₹30 lakh when your child turns 18? You can set up a policy that builds that amount over time through regular monthly or yearly payments. This helps avoid taking last-minute loans or selling assets when big education expenses come up.
SBI Life – Smart Future Star, an individual, non-linked, participating life insurance savings product offers parents the opportunity to get life insurance cover for the children with regular guaranteed and non-guaranteed benefits in the form of bonuses to help secure their formative years.
For parents who want market linked growth of their corpus, SBI Life – Smart Scholar Plus is a strong option. It’s a market-linked insurance plan designed to build a solid financial fund, even in uncertain times. By combining life cover with the opportunity for market-based returns, it gives children the freedom to chase their dreams, while giving parents the confidence of a structured planning.
It’s no longer optional
Child insurance can help create a layered safety net, one that ensures dreams don’t die with income disruption, illness or inflation.
It’s time to acknowledge that the cost of not planning is often higher than the cost of insurance. Starting early, ideally when your child is born, not only reduces the premium burden but also maximizes compounding and maturity benefits.
For today’s parents, securing their child’s future goes far beyond tuition fees. And in that mission, a well-structured child insurance plan might just be one of the smartest financial moves they can make.