Boys inherit the family name and land, and provide an old-age insurance policy.

ECONOMIST: A shortage of girls will haunt India for decades

Congress began trying to provide old-age insurance for something close to 100% of the population as early as 1939, before the first Social Security benefits were paid.

CNN: A Debt-Threatened Dream

Moreover aspects such as mutual care within traditional gender roles and bringing up children as a form of old-age insurance had huge practical importance and were much more important than romantic love.

BBC: News | Talking Point | Is marriage an out-dated institution? Read the first comments we received.

Six days later, the Supreme Court upheld the old-age-insurance provisions of the Social Security Act.

NEWYORKER: Benched

He also recommends that single people, who may not have family who could care for them in old age, to seriously consider long-term care insurance as well.

FORBES: Can Your Finances Survive Long-Term Care?

One of the provisions -- one of the reforms we want is to make sure that your 26- or 27-year-old could, up until that age, could stay on your insurance, so that once they get out of high school and college, they can stay on their parents' insurance for a few years until they've got a more stable job.

WHITEHOUSE: "White House to Main Street" Town Hall: Elyria, OH

Then there is Medifund, a safety-net program for the bottom 10 percent of income earners, and Eldershield, a private insurance program for long-term care for those with old age-related disabilities.

FORBES: The Myth of 'Free-Market' American Health Care

The study, sponsored by the Allstate Foundation, an arm of Allstate Insurance, interviewed 1, 025 teens age 14-18 years old, from February 5-15 this year.

FORBES: Teens Are Getting More Optimistic About Their Financial Future

The biggest problems: It is voluntary, and it attempts to combine a new benefit for working people with disabilities with a true insurance program for those looking to hedge against the risk of long-term care in old age.

FORBES: The CLASS Act on Life Support