Schedule II Genworth Financial, Inc. (Parent Company Only) - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended												12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2021	Sep. 30, 2021	Jun. 30, 2021	Mar. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020		Sep. 30, 2020	[1]	Jun. 30, 2020	[1]	Mar. 31, 2020	[1]	Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019	Apr. 01, 2013
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Deferred tax asset	$ 960				$ 1,084								$ 960	$ 1,084
Current income tax payable	2				32								2	32
Net cash received (paid) for taxes													7	(3)	$ (1)
Loss from discontinued operations, net of taxes	(1)	$ 12	$ (5)	$ 21	(35)	[1]	$ 34		$ (473)		$ (12)		27	(486)	148
Parent Company
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Deferred tax asset	4				13								4	13
Current income tax receivable	$ 2												2
Current income tax payable					$ 3									3
Net cash received (paid) for taxes													(4)	0	21
Loss from discontinued operations, net of taxes													$ 0	1	$ 0
Genworth Holdings
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Percentage of subsidiary equity ownership																100.00%
Loans to related party forgiven														129
Loss from discontinued operations, net of taxes														$ 549

[1] 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.