I started a thread in rec.food.cooking (it was about an article where the author determined that in her particular case, cooking and cleaning only took 19 hours a week), and, as often happens, the thread went off in directions I never intended. (It now has over 300 posts.)

But this part was interesting - it was an offshoot of when I mentioned a AITA Reddit thread about a man on a date with a woman who wanted to be childfree...AND a housewife. Apparently, SHE hadn't heard that with modern household appliances, you can't argue that housekeeping is a full-time job. Or that millennials, at least, are not eager to work 40 hours while supporting a spouse who only works 19 hours. (Obviously, anyone at home with a baby or toddler, by contrast, typically works far more than 40 hours.)

Anyway, here's the tangent:

Michael Trew: "If only one partner is working/supporting, good life insurance is a wise idea."

itsjoannotjoann: "The younger you are the cheaper it is."

Sheldon: "Depends on his age... I'm too old to buy life insurance, however I
have life insurance through my employer. Everyone should keep in mind
that life insurance is for your survivers, won't do you any good... my
wife has her own money and life insurance through her employer. We
have no young children, our children have adult children. Life
Insurance is truely a giant rip off. If over the years people put
those premiums into a bank account they'd be way ahead, they can even
have a nice vacation on those savings. WTF would anyone want to
deposit all those premiums into a life insurance account, wont do you
any good, you'll be dead, let your survivers save their own money. If
I dropped dead tonight my wife would have this fully paid house, no
bills because we don't owe a cent, and she's still working as a
substitute teacher, and would collect from my pension, plus she has
her own pension. Our adult kids have to find their own way... no
scaventure deadbeat Kootchies here."

itsjoannotjoann: "Life insurance is so your family doesn't get stuck with a big funeral bill or the cost of cremation."

Ed Pawlowski: "It is a bet. If you follow Sheldon's plan, invest every month, live to 80, you have a nice sum. If you buy life insurance and die at 35, your family gets that money now. They may need it too at years of wages will be lost. If smart, they will invest that for the future."

Cindy Hamilton: "Funerals are the least of it. Hospital bills are the big worry.
You can always skimp on the funeral costs. Looks like a basic cremation is about $800 around here. If you can resist the upsell, you can probably get out without a ton of additional expense. I see an $11.25 urn on Ebay. You'd have to plan ahead, though."

Jill: "When my mother died I found a life insurance policy from Prudential
which had been issued when she was working before she married my dad
(pre-1951). When I called I found the policy was paid for/still in
force. The beneficiary was her mother. Well gee, her mother died in
1976. They asked me for a copy of grandma's death certificate. I
didn't have one, couldn't figure out how to get one. Figured that was
probably a lost cause. But Prudential came through and sent a check for
the full amount anyway and yes, it did cover the cost of cremation, a
nice marble urn (same as she had requested for my dad). The burial plot
was provided by the government as the spouse of a career Marine."