Protect Your Loved Ones: Why Insurance Matters This Mother’s Day

Every year on Mother’s Day, families throughout the United States honor mothers, wives, mothers-in-law and other women who impact their lives. In addition to celebrating your mom, you can take this opportunity to make sure she has the right insurance policies — including life insurance and health insurance — to match her coverage needs.

Read on to learn about the history of the holiday and to get tips on how to make this Mom’s Day special for the most important women in your life.

Key Takeaways Anna Jarvis invented Mother’s Day in 1908, and it became a national holiday observed every May beginning in 1914. If you want to buy a ring or necklace for your mom or wife this Mother’s Day, you may want to make sure she has scheduled personal property coverage or standalone jewelry insurance so her valuables will be adequately covered. You are allowed to take out a life insurance policy on your mother as long as she agrees to let you do it and you can prove that her death would financially impact you. Health insurance companies must allow you to add a dependent mother to your health plan in California, while you can buy your mother her own health plan or enroll her in Medicare in other states.

What Is Mother’s Day?

Mother’s Day is a holiday recognized on the second Sunday in May each year in the United States. It is primarily an opportunity for children to celebrate their own mothers, but it may also be a time for individuals to celebrate all of the mothers who have played an important role in their lives or communities, regardless of whether those women are their own mothers.

This year, Mother’s Day falls on May 11, 2025.

Why Is Mother’s Day Celebrated?

Mother’s Day as it exists in the United States today was the brainchild of West Virginia native Anna Jarvis — daughter of Civil War era activist Ann Reeves Jarvis. On May 10, 1908 — three years after her mother died — Anna Jarvis organized two Mother’s Day church services in West Virginia and Pennsylvania in honor of her mother’s death.^[1]

Jarvis pushed for the new holiday to be widely recognized throughout the country, and Mother’s Day was informally celebrated in every state by 1911. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson issued a Mother’s Day proclamation officially declaring it a national holiday. Ironically, Jarvis rejected its status as a public holiday because she had trademarked the phrases “Mother’s Day” and “The Second Sunday in May.”^[1]

Mother’s Day History

While the current American celebration of Mother’s Day is a relatively modern invention, there are various examples of different cultures throughout history celebrating motherhood. For example, ancient Greeks and Romans hosted an annual festival to honor the goddess Cybele — also known as the Great Mother of the Gods.^[2]

Meanwhile, the English celebration of Mothering Sunday originated in the 1500s. It started as a predominantly religious festivity during which each individual would visit their “mother church” — which could refer to the church they had grown up attending or the nearest cathedral to their current home. However, the holiday eventually morphed into an occasion to spend time with family and celebrate mothers.^[3]

How To Celebrate Mom on Mother’s Day

There are several ways you can honor your mom and help her have a happy Mother’s Day, whether it’s giving her gifts that will make her smile or going out of your way to make her life easier. Common examples of Mother’s Day gifts include flowers, chocolates and necklaces, but you should be sure to shop for whatever present best matches your mom’s unique tastes.

Additionally, you could treat Mom by preparing a meal for her or taking her out to a nice restaurant. Women are the primary meal preppers in 80% of American households consisting of two parents and at least one child under the age of 18 — as a result, most individuals around the country could likely make their mothers’ day by giving them a day off from cooking.^[4]

Of course, spending time with your mother is perhaps the best and simplest way to celebrate Mother’s Day. Notably, Mother’s Day founder Anna Jarvis aggressively opposed the commercialization of the holiday, so prioritizing quality time with your mom or grandma may honor the original spirit of the holiday better than any sort of gift giving.^[1]

Keep Mom Safe With Insurance

As Mother’s Day approaches, you should think about how insurance factors into your goal of celebrating and taking care of your mother. If you plan on buying customized jewelry for your mom or honorary mother figure, you may also want to purchase standalone jewelry coverage or a scheduled personal property endorsement for her home insurance policy because basic homeowners policies often enforce sublimits for valuables.

For example, some policies will pay out no more than $1,000 for stolen jewelry claims, regardless of how much the jewelry is actually worth.^[5]

Meanwhile, if your mom is interested in life insurance but has not yet purchased a policy for herself, she’ll likely appreciate it if you take out a life insurance policy on her behalf and pay the premiums for her. In general, you can buy life insurance for a parent as long as you have their consent and can demonstrate insurable interest, which means that their death would have a financial impact on you.^[6]

Finally, take the time to ask your mother about her health insurance needs. If your mother is your dependent, you may be able to add her to your health insurance in California.^[7] While this may not be an option elsewhere in the country, you can still shop for a Marketplace health plan for your mother or help her sign up for Medicare if she’s over the age of 65.