Let's (not) talk about sex

Sex is the number one ‘life issue' that British adults feel most uncomfortable talking about in the home according to a report from Bright Grey, the protection specialists. The Women and Protection report, which examines the levels of financial protection among women in Britain, reveals that some 22 per cent of people try to avoid talking about the ‘birds and the bees' with their family, with this figure rising to 25 per cent of women, while talking about money ranks as the third least popular discussion topic in the home.

As well as avoiding taboo subjects, Britons seem to have ‘issues' around household chores, particularly manual ones. A fifth of people listed ironing as the chore they most hate doing - rising to 28 per cent of women. This resulted in a quarter of people (25 %) putting off doing their ironing for at least one week.

While doing the washing up is the third least popular household chore, almost half of British adults (48 per cent) stated it was something that they tended to get done immediately. In contrast, sorting out their finances was described by just two per cent of Britons as their most hated chore, but this is also the task that they put off for the longest period.

Roger Edwards, proposition director at Bright Grey, said: "Sex, death and money are never popular discussion topics in the home - even today - and it seems people would rather leave some things unsaid than try and deal with the consequences. The downside of not talking about issues, or putting them off altogether is the equivalent to leaving the washing up in the sink - it all builds up until it's a lot bigger than it was originally. In the case of the washing up it would probably just be a smelly house (or nothing to eat food off!) but in the event of a long term illness or disability the consequences of not having had these financial discussions could be far more serious.

"When financial conversations do happen it tends to be women that initiate them, with our research finding that 59 per cent of women are chiefly responsible for raising financial conversations in the home. But although women are looking out for their families they are not looking out for themselves and are leaving themselves under-protected.  Some 59 per cent of women do not have life insurance in place and over 84 per cent - some 21 million women - are without a critical illness insurance policy that could safeguard their finances and therefore their families in the event of a long-term illness or disability. Any women who are concerned about their protection levels should speak to an adviser or visit brightgrey.co.uk for more information.