A paradox exists for life insurance: Ownership in individual life insurance has fallen to a 50-year low, yet a record number of people say they would falter if the primary household earner died.

With fewer than half of U.S. households owning life policies, according to a new LIMRA survey, competing interests, including paying bills and avoiding other financial worries, appear to be a higher priority.

“Clearly, more American families are living on the edge—surviving paycheck to paycheck—and, as our new study suggests, too many without the safety net that life insurance provides,” said Robert Kerzner, president and CEO of LIMRA, in a statement. “A majority of families either have no life insurance or not enough, leaving them one accident or terminal illness away from a financial catastrophe for their loved ones.”

The number of U.S. households that have no life insurance whatsoever is growing. Today, 30% of households (35 million) have no life insurance coverage, compared to 22% of households in 2004. Among households with children under age 18, which arguably have the greatest need for life insurance, according to LIMRA, 11 million have no coverage.

More than 40% of Americans say a major reason they have not bought more life insurance is because they have other financial priorities such as paying off debt or saving for retirement.

Half of households feel they need more life insurance—the highest level ever, researchers said.

Despite feeling vulnerable, people are not buying life policies. Among households with children under 18, four in 10 say they would have immediate trouble meeting everyday living expenses if the primary breadwinner died today. Another three in 10 would have trouble keeping up with expenses after several months, according to the survey.

Half of households feel they need more life insurance—the highest level ever.

Exactly 24% of households with children under 18 want to speak with a financial professional about their life insurance needs; and a quarter of all households plan to buy life insurance in the next year.

According to LIMRA’s study, life insurance beat out all other sources of financial assets or income that Americans expect to use to help pay bills and to maintain their lifestyle in the event of the primary wage-earner’s death.

About one in four middle-market households admit they don’t know how to obtain or reach their financial goals, including buying life insurance. One of the biggest obstacles is lack of information. Almost eight in 10 U.S. households currently do not have a personal life insurance agent or broker to turn to and most of them say they never did. Most individual life insurance policies are sold by insurance agents and many Americans want to keep buying in this manner. For instance, 60% of baby boomer households prefer to buy life insurance face-to-face. Younger generations say they also are interested in gathering information about life insurance online and at their place of work.

“As an industry, we need to reach out to consumers and educate them about the various ways they can purchase life insurance,” said Kerzner. “Whether they buy from an agent, get coverage through their employer, or make an online purchase, the important thing is that they get the coverage they need to protect their loved ones.”