Families are leaving themselves underprotected with only five per cent having income protection and 11 per cent having critical illness cover.
The figures from the fifth Scottish Widows consumer protection report show that despite many families relying on only one income, they are failing to protect themselves financially.
The survey, which questioned over 5,000 people, found over half of families were reliant on a single income.
Over half of people questioned who were not yet retired said they would only be financially secure for less than six months or 'not at all' if they lost their job.
Despite only 11 per cent of people having critical illness cover, 16 per cent said they had suffered a critical illness. Only five per cent of those who fell ill had a protection policy in place to help with the changes.
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The most popular protection was life insurance which was bought by 37 per cent of people.
Reasons cited for not buying insurance were that it was too expensive, not a priority or necessity or that they had not 'got round' to doing so.
The main reason people did buy protection was when they bought a property but Scottish Widows said this was dropping as more people rented.
Katya Maclean, protection expert at Scottish Widows, said: "It is necessary for the industry to find new ways of engaging customers that are not centered around buying a home. These findings indicate the industry must adapt how we communicate the importance of protection to a new generation, who have different financial priorities to their parents."


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