is this a trick of auto ins?

My boyfriend recently lost his employment.  I barely have any.  

I decided I would get smart and apply for low cost auto insurance.  I should mention that both of us are acutely aware of the ongoing climate change emergency (for which our society has mandated no laws like they have done for the virus), and so we barely use our car.

Applying for this type of insurance, I learned that the size of a household is based on the number of dependents we list in our tax returns that we file.  I am the poorer of us 2, so I am the applicant.  The receptionist told me that, to include someone else, they must be my dependent.  How can/ should anyone "depend" on me if I am poor enough to need low cost auto??