Even though Americans are thinking about life risks more than people in other countries, few of them are doing anything about it. A report by AXA Equitable, which surveyed people in 11 countries, found that even though 63 percent of Americans believe life insurance brings peace of mind and protection, 34 percent of them have not purchased coverage themselves, and 18 percent have no coverage.

The most common reason for this is employer-provided coverage. The average employee-sponsored group coverage of all American households is $153,900, while average Americans, age 25 to 65, have an insurance gap of $180,000. Families with financially dependent children have an average gap of $371,000.

Other key findings from the U.S. respondents include:

• Women are uniformly more likely to talk about life risks than men. And yet 27 percent of women with financially dependent children say that while they are aware of life accidents, they do not think about the consequences.
• Health matters most. When asked, the majority of Americans say serious illness is the negative event most likely to happen to them. Very few think that they'll be involved in a plane crash or terrorist incident.
• There's a widespread distaste for risk. One in four Americans say that they are highly aware of life accidents and hate taking risks.