1 year salary seems VERY scant! And it's through your work--what if you got sick and lost your job? Your family would be SOL.
Mr. FP has between six and seven years' salary in total life insurance--$350K on our own and $50K through work. Enough to let me and the kids live a normal middle-class lifestyle (house with a yard, karate lessons, that kind of thing) if, God forbid, something happened to him. We will probably reduce this amount when the kids are older, we have more savings, and I am working full-time--right now we have two preschoolers and no savings. The work coverage is free and the $350K is only two hundred a year.
On me, we have I think $100K and it costs $100/year (I'm asthmatic and had c-sections--maybe that's why I didn't get as good a rate?), plus a little through my work. Enough to help with the costs of extra child care and household services.
We also have to think in terms of what if something happened to BOTH of us? My sister would probably take in the kids, but she would need to buy a bigger house, which would be very pricey in the town where she and my parents live.