Adjustment of the Amount of Insurance to the Unit of Premium

Since the death rate decreases from birth to about age 10, it follows that the amount of insurance that can be given for a unit of premium, like five cents, will increase as the age of the child increases. Thus, in one leading company, for example, the amount payable on a policy with a weekly premium of five cents "in the case of a child insured at age two next birthday is $12.50 when the duration of insurance has been less than six months, $25.00 when the duration is more than six months, but less than one year, $34.00 when the duration is one year, $40.00 at two years, $48.00 at three years, $58.00 at four years, $70.00 at five years, $110.00 at six years, $150.00 at seven years, and $190.00 at eight years".

In the case of adults, on the contrary, the amount of insurance that can be given for a unit of premium must decrease in accordance with the increasing death rate that occurs following about age 10. Thus in the aforementioned company, "for a premium of five cents at age 10 the amount payable in the event, of death after the policy has been six months in force is $150.00, at age 20 the amount payable is $105.00, at age 30 it is $79.00, at age 40 it is $57.00, at age 50 it is $38.00, and at age 60 it is $22.00". Usually infantile premiums are limited to ages under 10 and adult premiums to ages 10 to 65 or 70, inclusive. It is also the practice to restrict the maximum amount of insurance that may be taken at certain ages under either infantile or adult policies.