Employers are recalibrating their benefit strategies in 2023 to include more support for working parents and caregivers. In Care’s Future of Benefits Report, 46% of HR leaders reported they are prioritizing child care in 2023—and 43% are prioritizing senior care. In fact, when asked which family care benefits they would offer to their employees if they could provide only one, respondents chose senior care benefits over others by a considerable margin.
Why the major focus on caregiving benefits this year? These top leaders know that by aligning their benefits strategy to meet the needs of caregivers, they will achieve desired business objectives of attracting and retaining top talent and increasing business productivity.
The high cost of inadequate child and senior care benefits
The potential losses to employers of not offering adequate caregiving benefits are astounding. 20% of working parents had to leave work or reduce their work hours in the past few years solely due to a lack of child care. Of all the women who became unemployed during the pandemic, 26% said it was due to the lack of child care.
This quickly leads to productivity losses for employers—and high attrition rates of working parents.
- Turnover as a result of lack of child care costs businesses 20% of an hourly employee’s salary and up to 150% of a manager’s salary.
- $3 billion in revenue is lost annually due to employee absenteeism as the result of child care breakdowns.
The cost of inadequate senior care benefits is equally as staggering. According to the Council on Aging, more than one in six working Americans is a caregiver to the elderly, and 70% of these caregivers suffer work-related difficulties. Nearly one-third of senior caregiver employees have voluntarily left a job to meet their caregiving responsibilities.
The rewards of investing in care benefits
Conversely, employers who invest in caregiving benefits reap the benefits of a more productive and loyal workforce.
- Job turnover from child care benefits alone can decline by 60%.
- In a recent survey of 1,000 parents, 69% of female job-seekers said they’d be more likely to choose an employer who offered child care benefits and 83% of women and 81% of men said these benefits would play an important role in staying with their employer.
- 80% of employers surveyed report that child care benefits have a positive impact on productivity
- 78% say care benefits boost recruitment and retention.
If your organization is also recalibrating your benefits this year, follow the lead of today’s top HR leaders and invest in your working parents and caregivers. A small investment in care benefits can go a long way in attracting and retaining top talent—and improving the overall productivity of your workforce.
