Most kids do not need life insurance. Life insurance replaces a paycheck, and nobody is living on your child’s income. What a children’s policy really buys is three smaller things: money for final expenses, a guarantee that your child can get coverage later no matter what happens to their health, and a small pot of cash value that grows slowly.
Three questions sort the options. Is your own life insurance in place yet, since that is the policy your kids actually depend on? Do you want coverage that lasts your child’s whole life, or just until they are grown? And is this about protection, or are you hoping it doubles as savings? We read each insurer’s own product pages to pull the coverage amounts, ages and prices below. Start with the four picks, then check the catch on each card.
Best life insurance for children at a glance
| Company | Type | Coverage | Child’s age | Published price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gerber Life | Whole life | $5,000 to $50,000 | 14 days to 17 years | From $3.70 a month | See the plan |
| Mutual of Omaha | Whole life | $5,000 to $50,000 | 14 days to 17 years | Quote only | See the plan |
| Globe Life | Whole life | $5,000 to $30,000 | Newborn to 25 | $1 first month, then from $2.17 | See the plan |
| State Farm | Term rider | Up to $20,000 per child | Until the child is 25 | Quote only | See the rider |
| Modern Woodmen | Term | You choose | Kept until 30 | As low as $2.50 a month | See the plan |
Coverage amounts, ages and prices are each insurer’s own published terms, read for this update. Every price above is a starting price for a baby. Yours depends on your child’s age, the amount you pick and your state.
Children’s life insurance reviews: our five picks
Every number on these cards comes from the insurer’s own website. We do not print star ratings. Where a company does not publish a price or a limit, the card says so.
Gerber Life Grow-Up Plan
Doubles at 18The best-known kids’ policy, and the only one here that grows on its own. Buy $25,000 and it becomes $50,000 when your child is 18, with no change in the premium. The rate is locked for life, and a rider included on standard policies guarantees your child the option to buy more coverage as an adult at standard rates, whatever their health or job. Gerber Life reports an A+ (Superior) rating from A.M. Best, most recently in March 2025.
The catchThe $3.70 price is Gerber Life’s example for $5,000 on a baby in Delaware with automatic payments, dated March 2026. Cash value only starts building after the first policy years, and Gerber says it may take years to add up. Borrowing against it costs up to 8% interest. The online quote form stops at age 14. For 15 to 17, Gerber says to call.
See the Grow-Up PlanMutual of Omaha
Simple applicationChildren’s Whole Life from United of Omaha, the Mutual of Omaha life company. The application asks only three health questions, the premium is guaranteed never to go up, and the policy builds cash value. Mutual of Omaha says it also gives your child the chance to add more coverage later regardless of health or occupation. Its ratings page lists United of Omaha at A+ from A.M. Best, A+ from S&P and A1 from Moody’s.
The catchYou cannot see a price without asking for a quote, so you cannot compare it to Gerber Life or Globe Life from the couch. The benefit is fixed, so there is no built-in doubling. United of Omaha does not sell in New York. Companion Life, a sister company, writes policies there.
See Mutual of OmahaGlobe Life
$1 first monthThe lowest way in. The first month costs $1. After that the rate is set by your child’s age when you buy and is guaranteed to stay the same for life. Globe Life’s rate table shows $2.17 a month for $5,000 on a newborn and about $11 to $12 a month for $30,000, depending on the state. There is no medical exam, coverage starts the first day, and the policy builds cash value. Globe Life reports an A (Excellent) rating from A.M. Best as of November 2025.
The catchThe $1 is a first-month price, not the rate. The most you can buy is $30,000, the lowest ceiling of the three whole life policies here. No exam does not mean no approval, because benefits are locked in only once your child is approved. The quote form also asks you to agree to sales calls and texts.
See Globe LifeState Farm
Rider on your policyNot a separate policy. The Children’s Term Rider bolts onto your own State Farm life insurance and covers each eligible child, so one rider can cover the whole family. When a child turns 25, the coverage can be converted to a permanent policy for up to five times the amount, regardless of health. State Farm also lets you buy up to five times the rider amount on the child’s 18th birthday. It is available with Select Term, Return of Premium, Universal Life or Whole Life.
The catchYou have to buy or already own a State Farm life policy on yourself. A rider is term coverage, so it builds no cash value and it ends when the child ages out unless it is converted. State Farm does not publish the price, and it says riders may not be available in every state.
See the State Farm riderModern Woodmen of America
Term for kidsTerm life written on the child, which few insurers sell. Modern Woodmen’s MyLife Foundation plan can be kept until age 30 or converted to permanent coverage when the time is right, and you can pay monthly, yearly or all at once. Its juvenile term plans can also be converted to another children’s term plan, a permanent plan or an adult term plan. Modern Woodmen is a fraternal organization, so its member programs for kids, such as youth service clubs and college scholarship competitions, come alongside the coverage.
The catchTerm coverage builds no cash value, and if you never convert it, it ends. Modern Woodmen publishes one starting price and no coverage limits, so the real numbers come from a quote. Conversion depends on the products available at that time, and its member programs are not part of the contract.
See Modern WoodmenMore insurers that cover children
These three also insure kids. Their sites give fewer details, so we list what each one confirms and how you buy it.
| Company | What it offers | How to buy |
|---|---|---|
| Nationwide | A Children’s Term Insurance Rider that covers biological, step and adopted children from 15 days old until they turn 22 or marry. Listed with its two variable universal life policies. | Through an insurance or investment professional |
| Aflac | Juvenile term and whole life policies. Its site lists no coverage amounts or prices. | Through an Aflac agent |
| New York Life | Whole life on a child, owned by the adult until the child reaches the age of majority. Its site lists no amounts or prices. | Through a New York Life financial professional |
Does your child need life insurance?
Usually not. Even Allstate, a life insurer, says child life insurance is usually not necessary because children have no dependents. If your budget only has room for one policy, it belongs on you. Your income is what keeps the house running, so that is the policy to buy first.
There are three situations where a small policy on a child holds up.
- A funeral would mean debt. If the worst happened and you had no savings to fall back on, a $5,000 or $10,000 policy keeps a credit card out of the hardest week of your life. An emergency fund does the same job and stays yours if you never need it.
- Health problems run in your family. A child who develops a serious condition can have trouble qualifying for coverage as an adult. Gerber Life, Mutual of Omaha and State Farm all guarantee the option to buy or convert to more coverage later, regardless of health.
- A grandparent wants to give something lasting. A paid-up policy with a locked rate is a gift that cannot be spent at 18. Just know what it is: insurance first, savings a distant second.
If none of those fit, skip it and put the money toward your own coverage. Not sure you need that yet either? Start with whether to get life insurance in your 20s or 30s.
A child’s own policy vs. a rider on yours
There are two ways to insure a child. You can buy a whole life policy in the child’s name, or add a child rider to your own life insurance. The rider is the simpler choice if all you want is coverage while they are growing up.
| Question | Child’s own whole life policy | Child rider on your policy |
|---|---|---|
| How long it lasts | For life, as long as the premiums are paid | Until an age the insurer sets: 25 at State Farm, 22 at Nationwide |
| Cash value | Builds slowly over many years | None |
| How much | $5,000 to $50,000 at the insurers above | Up to $20,000 per child at State Farm |
| What you need | A short application for the child | Your own life policy with that insurer |
| When they grow up | Ownership can pass to your child, with an option to buy more | Can be converted to a permanent policy, up to five times the amount at State Farm |
One rider covers every eligible child in the family, and Allstate notes that riders are typically less expensive than standalone policies. The trade-off is that a rider only exists while your own policy does.
How much does life insurance for a child cost?
A few dollars a month for a small policy on a baby. Gerber Life’s published example is $3.70 a month for $5,000. Globe Life posts its whole rate table, which makes it the easiest one to check. These are its monthly rates after the $1 first month, for the first of its two state groups.
| Child’s age at purchase | $5,000 | $10,000 | $30,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 | $2.17 | $4.28 | $11.05 |
| 1 to 4 | $2.88 | $4.86 | $12.78 |
| 5 to 9 | $3.16 | $5.43 | $14.48 |
| 10 to 12 | $3.60 | $6.30 | $17.10 |
| 13 to 17 | $4.20 | $7.51 | $20.72 |
Globe Life’s second state group uses slightly different age bands, and its rates differ by a few cents to about a dollar. The rate you start at is the rate you keep.
Bigger policies cost more than the ads suggest. Guardian says $50,000 of coverage on a baby averages about $27 a month. That is $324 a year, every year.
Run the small one too. Gerber Life’s $3.70 a month is $44.40 a year, or $799.20 by the time your child turns 18, for a policy that pays $5,000 and then $10,000 after it doubles. That is cheap protection. It is not a savings plan.
How cash value really works
Cash value is the part of a whole life policy the ads lean on, so here is what the insurers themselves say about it. Gerber Life sets aside a small amount of each premium only after the first policy years, and says the cash value may take years to accumulate. You can borrow against it, at up to 8% interest, and a loan that is not paid back reduces the death benefit and can cause the policy to lapse. Loans and withdrawals can also be taxable. Or your child can cancel the policy as an adult and take whatever cash value is there.
New York Life adds two things that are true of any child policy. The cash value grows tax-deferred while it stays in the policy. And as long as you own the policy, you can reach that cash value, not your child.
So do not buy a children’s policy to pay for college. If the goal is money for your kid, a 529 college savings plan is built for that, and you can read why whole life insurance is a bad investment for most people. Buy the policy for the insurance, or do not buy it.
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How to buy life insurance for a child
- Cover yourself first. If you do not have term life insurance on your own income, fix that before anything else.
- Pick a rider or a policy. Already have life insurance? Ask your insurer what a child rider costs. If you want coverage that lasts your child’s whole life, look at a whole life policy instead.
- Choose the amount. Policies here start at $5,000. Decide what you are covering, whether that is final expenses, time off work or a bigger base for your child to build on, and buy that much.
- Get at least two quotes. Gerber Life and Globe Life show prices online. Mutual of Omaha, State Farm and Modern Woodmen quote you directly or through an agent.
- Check who is allowed to buy. Gerber Life sells to parents, grandparents and permanent legal guardians. Other insurers set their own rules, and a grandparent will often need a parent’s consent.
- Read the policy when it arrives. Look for the guaranteed premium, the cash value table and the option to buy more coverage later. Ownership can pass to your child at the age of majority in your state.
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Children’s life insurance FAQ
It depends on what you want it to do. The Gerber Life Grow-Up Plan is the one to look at if you want coverage that doubles at 18 and a price you can see online. Mutual of Omaha covers kids through age 17 with three health questions. Globe Life has the lowest way in at $1 for the first month. If you already have your own policy, a child rider like State Farm’s covers every eligible child for up to $20,000 each.
Usually not. Children have no income to replace, so most families are better off making sure the parents are covered first. See our list of the best life insurance companies for that. A small policy on a child can make sense if a funeral would put you in debt, if health problems run in your family, or if a grandparent wants to give a policy with a locked-in rate.
A few dollars a month for a small policy. Gerber Life’s published example is $3.70 a month for $5,000 on a baby under 1. Globe Life’s rate table shows $2.17 a month for $5,000 on a newborn after a $1 first month. Guardian says $50,000 of coverage on a baby averages about $27 a month. The price depends on your child’s age, the amount and your state.
A child rider is an add-on to a parent’s life insurance policy that pays a benefit if a covered child dies. One rider usually covers every eligible child. State Farm’s Children’s Term Rider covers up to $20,000 per child until the child is 25, and it can be converted to a permanent policy for up to five times that amount. A rider builds no cash value and ends when the child ages out unless it is converted.
It is a whole life insurance policy for children from 14 days old through 17, with $5,000 to $50,000 of coverage. The coverage amount doubles during age 18 at no extra cost, the premium is locked in, and the policy builds cash value over time. Parents, grandparents and permanent legal guardians can buy it.
Yes. Gerber Life sells the Grow-Up Plan to parents, grandparents and permanent legal guardians, and Globe Life markets its children’s policy to grandparents too. Other insurers set their own rules. Allstate says a grandparent typically needs the consent of the child’s parent or legal guardian.
Yes, if it is a whole life policy. The owner can cancel it and receive the cash value that has built up, minus any loan against it. Gerber Life says cash value starts building after the first policy years and may take years to accumulate, so cashing out early returns little. Term coverage and child riders have no cash value.
Whole life is what most insurers sell for children, because it locks in the rate, lasts for life and builds cash value. Term costs less and covers a set period. Modern Woodmen’s juvenile term can be kept until age 30 or converted to permanent coverage. If you only want coverage while your child is growing up, a child rider on your own policy is the simplest choice.
This page is general information, not personal insurance advice. Coverage amounts, ages, prices and ratings are each insurer’s own published terms, read for this update. They vary by state and change often, so confirm the details in your quote and your policy before you buy.
