Schedule of Revenue, Net Income and Assets by Geographic Location (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended																12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2021		Sep. 30, 2021	[1]	Jun. 30, 2021	[1]	Mar. 31, 2021	[1]	Dec. 31, 2020		Sep. 30, 2020	[2]	Jun. 30, 2020	[2]	Mar. 31, 2020	[2]	Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues	$ 1,736	[1]	$ 2,070		$ 2,041		$ 1,985		$ 2,154	[2]	$ 2,318		$ 2,003		$ 1,809		$ 7,832	$ 8,284	$ 7,705
Income (loss) from continuing operations	193	[1],[3],[4]	306	[3],[4]	245	[3],[4]	174	[3],[4]	301	[2],[5],[6]	402	[5],[6]	55	[5],[6]	(60)	[5],[6]	918	698	382
Net income (loss)	192	[1],[3],[4]	$ 318	[3],[4]	$ 240	[3],[4]	$ 195	[3],[4]	266	[2],[5],[6],[7]	$ 436	[5],[6],[7]	$ (418)	[5],[6],[7]	$ (72)	[5],[6],[7]	945	212	530
Total assets	99,171								105,747								99,171	105,747
Assets held for sale related to discontinued operations	0								2,817								0	2,817
Continuing Operations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues																	7,832	8,284	7,705
Income (loss) from continuing operations																	918	698	382
Net income (loss)																	945	212	530
Total assets	99,171								102,930								99,171	102,930
Discontinued Operations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Assets held for sale related to discontinued operations	0								2,817								0	2,817
Geographic Distribution, Domestic | United States
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total assets	99,117								102,871								99,117	102,871
Geographic Distribution, Domestic | United States | Continuing Operations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues																	7,825	8,275	7,696
Income (loss) from continuing operations																	921	700	384
Net income (loss)																	948	214	532
Total assets	99,117								102,871								99,117	102,871
Geographic Distribution, Domestic | United States | Discontinued Operations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Assets held for sale related to discontinued operations	0								0								0	0
Geographic Distribution, Foreign
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total assets	54								2,876								54	2,876
Geographic Distribution, Foreign | Continuing Operations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues																	7	9	9
Income (loss) from continuing operations																	(3)	(2)	(2)
Net income (loss)																	(3)	(2)	$ (2)
Total assets	54								59								54	59
Geographic Distribution, Foreign | Discontinued Operations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Assets held for sale related to discontinued operations	$ 0								$ 2,817								$ 0	$ 2,817

[1] In the fourth quarter of 2021, our life insurance business initially ceded $360 million of premiums associated with certain term life insurance policies under a new reinsurance treaty as part of a life block transaction.

[2] In the fourth quarter of 2020, we recorded lower net investment gains as compared to the third quarter of 2020. The higher net investment gains recorded in the third quarter of 2020 related to the sale of available-for-sale fixed maturity securities of $330 million driven primarily from the sale of U.S. government securities due to portfolio rebalancing and asset exposure management as a result of the prolonged low interest rate environment. This decrease to total revenues was partially offset by higher net investment income recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020 largely driven by bond calls and mortgage loan repayments of $40 million and limited partnerships of $38 million.

[3] In the fourth quarter of 2021, our life insurance business initially ceded $268 million of certain term life insurance reserves under a new reinsurance treaty as part of a life block transaction. Our life insurance business also completed its annual review of assumptions in the fourth quarter of 2021. This review resulted in higher total benefits and expenses of $87 million from an unfavorable unlocking in our term universal and universal life insurance products largely attributable to higher pre-COVID-19 mortality. In our term universal life insurance products, we also recorded a DAC impairment of $41 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 principally due to lower future estimated gross profits.

[4] In the fourth quarter of 2021, our life insurance business recorded a net loss of $131 million predominantly driven by an initial loss of $73 million as a result of ceding certain term life insurance policies as part of a life block transaction, an unfavorable unlocking of $70 million associated with its annual review of assumptions and a DAC impairment of $32 million as a result of recoverability testing.

[5] Given our assumption that COVID-19 has temporarily decreased the number of new claims submitted, our long-term care insurance business strengthened IBNR reserves in the fourth quarter of 2020 by $47 million. Additionally, our long-term care insurance business recorded a $91 million increase to claim reserves reflecting our assumption that COVID-19 accelerated mortality experience on the most vulnerable claimants, leaving the remaining claim population less likely to terminate compared to the pre-pandemic average population. Our Enact segment recorded an unfavorable reserve adjustment of $37 million primarily due to slowing cure emergence patterns impacting the frequency of claim. Our life insurance business completed its annual review of assumptions in the fourth quarter of 2020. This review resulted in lower total benefits and expenses of $82 million from a net favorable unlocking in our term universal and universal life insurance products largely attributable to a model refinement in our term universal life insurance product related to persistency and grace period timing and lower projected cost of insurance assessments on our universal life insurance products. In addition, we recorded a DAC impairment of $63 million in our universal life insurance products due principally to lower future estimated gross profits.

[6] In the fourth quarter of 2020, our long-term care insurance business strengthened its reserves by $109 million after-tax. Our Enact segment strengthened loss reserves by $29 million after-tax. Our life insurance business recorded a $60 million net favorable unlocking, net of taxes, related to its annual review of assumptions. This favorable unlocking in our life insurance business was partially offset by a DAC impairment of $50 million, net of taxes, as a result of recoverability testing. For all of the aforementioned transactions, see above under superscript (2) for additional details.

[7] In the fourth quarter of 2020, we recorded a loss from discontinued operations, net of taxes, of $35 million principally attributed to expenses associated with the promissory note owed to AXA and from a $5 million net loss in Genworth Australia. The expenses associated with the promissory note mostly consisted of foreign currency remeasurement losses of $26 million, unfavorable tax charges of $17 million and other expenses of $8 million. These expenses were partially offset by derivative hedge gains of $21 million associated with foreign currency forward contracts entered into to mitigate our exposure to the installment payments to be made in British Pounds in 2022. See note 23 for additional details on discontinued operations.