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How Can Employers Better Support Working Parents?

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Currently, about 40% of people in the U.S. workforce are parents whose kids are under 18 years old. With soaring childcare costs and limited government assistance, many organizations know it’s important to support working parents more fully. However, no standards have been established that define the kind of benefits these employees should receive.

While some companies provide comprehensive perks like paid family leave, free on-site childcare, lactation support, and family health care, others offer nothing. And sadly, research reveals that 44% of working parents think their employer does not care about their family’s financial wellbeing.

Still, one question remains on employers’ minds: Will providing more benefits and policies for parents lead to better business outcomes? New research says yes.

Key Facts About Today’s Working Parents

Earlier this year, an UrbanSitter study explored the challenges working parents are facing. These findings underscore the impact of seismic changes that are redefining modern organizations.

1. Parents Are Struggling to Adjust

From pandemic health concerns to remote work demands — and now return-to-office requirements — working parents continue to struggle as they navigate ongoing work trends. Now, unfortunately, the situation has reached an abysmal low:

  • Last year, 46% of working parents missed 10 or more work days to address caregiving issues.
  • Many attribute these missed days to family needs arising from a particularly strong surge in cold, flu, RSV, and COVID-19 cases during the previous fall and winter.
  • Additionally, an alarming 52% of working parents say they or their partner have had to make career changes due to caregiving issues.

2. The Stress is Showing

Hands down, for working parents, the need to juggle work and home responsibilities is the number one cause of stress. Caregiving issues and financial strain round out the top three sources of stress. No wonder nearly half (46%) of working mothers, a quarter of their partners, and more than 1 in 10 children are currently seeking therapy.

3. Federal Funds Are Running Dry

Adding further fuel to the fire, the government pull-back of pandemic relief childcare assistance in September is projected to cause 3.2 million children to lose childcare due to program closures.

This so-called “Childcare Cliff” and its ripple effects will have widespread implications. From parents being forced to quit or reduce hours so they can care for their children, to the financial impact it will have on organizations that lose valuable contributors, the drain on U.S. talent is bound to be felt across the employment landscape.

What Working Parents Need

Despite these gloomy statistics, our research suggests a clear path forward. When employers invest in benefits and policies to support working parents the situation improves. Specifically, absenteeism declines, productivity increases, employees feel supported, loyalty improves, and company culture gets a boost.

For example, when caregiving benefits are available:

  • Working parents miss 68% fewer workdays.
  • 77% of new parents return to work after childbirth, significantly surpassing the industry average of 57%.

What’s more, 87% of survey participants said they would be more likely to stay with their current employer if they had access to caregiving benefits.

Ignoring the data – and the resounding call for comprehensive support – is no longer an option. Simply put, businesses that prioritize working parents’ needs will attract top talent and retain a more dedicated workforce.

5 Strategies for Employers to Support Working Parents

1. Prioritize Childcare Benefits and Stipends

Studies show that working parents desire childcare benefits more than any other financial reward — even performance-based bonuses or 401(k) contribution matching. This means employers should offer whatever childcare options they can reasonably afford.

Programs can include access to trusted in-home care or third-party centers, or even stipends managed through a reimbursement program. Various solutions are available to employers, so any company can implement a program that aligns with its budget and workforce preferences.

2. Embrace the Power of Flexibility

Employers can make a tremendous difference by offering working parents more freedom to determine the best way to balance work and family demands.

For instance, offering flexible schedules enables parents to choose work hours that suit their family’s needs. This gives them the ability to participate in school activities and manage doctor appointments without jeopardizing their work commitments.

3. Respond to Remote Work Preferences

Many parents strongly prefer remote work options over full-time return-to-office mandates. When this is the case, hybrid work models can be a viable compromise.

Numerous companies are finding success with flexible schedules based on 1-2 days per week in the office. Others are experimenting with more creative structures. For example, some alternate 1-2 in-office weeks with 1-2 remote weeks, so parents can more closely align their schedules with school holiday weeks.

4. Innovate with a 4-Day Workweek

Other non-traditional work arrangements are highly attractive to talent right now. For example, the 4-day work week is gaining momentum among many employers.

To understand why this strategy is becoming more mainstream, consider the case of online thrift store, ThredUp. Since the company moved to a 4-day workweek in 2021, the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

A year later, 93% of the company’s workforce said their overall productivity had increased. In addition, the retention rate among corporate employees reached 96%. Plus, 60% of newer employees said the shorter workweek “tipped the scale for them” when choosing to work for ThredUp over other companies.

5. Offer More Holistic Support

Expanding care benefits to include a broader spectrum of services can further ease the burden working parents face. For example, assistance with tutoring, pet care, senior care, and household needs such as housekeeping and errands helps parents stay focused and more productive when they’re working.

What’s more, this more expansive approach not only benefits working parents, but also non-parent employees who are caring for pets or elderly family members.

A Final Note on Supporting Working Parents

In a world where the demands of home and work have intensified, employers must acknowledge the critical role they play in working parents’ lives. By taking tangible steps to provide comprehensive support, businesses can create an environment that nurtures the wellbeing of working parents and also helps their organizations thrive.

Employers that invest in these strategies are seeing tangible benefits, with increased employee retention, productivity, innovation, and overall business performance. The choice is clear. Now is the time for employers to set the course for a brighter future by empowering working parents to succeed.

Which Caregiving Benefits Do Modern Employers Provide?

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What benefits are top-of-mind for organizations that want to attract and retain great talent in today’s challenging talent market? Many are finding it pays to step outside the standard benefits box with creative options that meet diverse employee needs. For example, caregiving benefits are gaining strong momentum.

To learn more about this, we asked business and HR leaders to describe one caregiving option they believe is essential in supporting employees as they move through various life stages — from family planning and fertility to childcare and eldercare. Their recommendations cover a spectrum of solutions:

  • Childcare Benefits
  • Tuition Assistance
  • Sabbatical Leave
  • Unlimited PTO
  • Nutritional Support
  • Family Medical Leave

To learn more about why these options are so helpful, read the responses below…

6 Caregiving Benefits for the Modern Workforce

1. Childcare Support

One “do-everything” benefit can’t cover all the complexities involved with each stage in life. To ensure higher utilization and satisfaction, focus on stages with the most impact on employees and find the best option for each stage.

Certainly, fertility and family planning are good benefits to consider. However, childcare has the biggest impact on employee retention and productivity.

Childcare costs are soaring. In fact, in most states, the average annual cost of childcare is more expensive than college. This expense means many working couples are considering whether they can even afford to have kids, or if one parent must resign from work to care for their children at home.

Childcare also has a direct impact on employee attendance. On average, parents who must respond to childcare needs miss 9-14 days of work each year. And more than 65% leave work early or arrive late because they lack access to care. This is nearly 3x more productivity lost than from employees who are managing healthcare issues.

Kevin Ehlinger, VP Product Marketing, TOOTRiS

2. Tuition Assistance

Higher education and vocational training open up a wide range of opportunities for employees. They equip workers with the skills and knowledge to pursue additional career options and improve job mobility.

Tuition assistance makes education more accessible, empowering workers and their families to plan for their future. Offering tuition assistance as a benefit helps attract high-quality candidates and helps them hone their skills while helping employers retain top talent. In addition,  government education assistance programs in the U.S. let employers deduct sizable reimbursements for employee tuition contributions.

Ben Travis, Founder, HR Chief

3. Sabbatical Leave 

Although sabbatical leave was traditionally offered only in academic settings, it has started to gain strong traction over the past few years in the private sector, in response to a rise in employee burnout and the Great Resignation.

Private employers are looking for generous perks to attract new employees, keep them engaged, and help them maintain a healthy work-life balance. Sabbatical leave is the perfect benefit to check those boxes. 

In short, sabbatical leave is the option to step away from work for an extended period (usually 6 to 12 months) for any purpose whatsoever. This is a perfect way to accommodate employees at every stage in the employee lifecycle, from cradle to grave.

Individuals can take a sabbatical to de-stress and get pregnant, care for a new child, fight an illness, spend time with a dying loved one, or just travel the world. It is a flexible, practical benefit that allows for a range of uses. Whether paid, partially paid, or totally unpaid, any employee will appreciate the flexibility that sabbatical leave offers.

John Ross, CEO, Test Prep Insight

4. Unlimited PTO

As a business, we are committed to helping our employees maintain a work-life balance. We’re also committed to creating an environment that supports our employees’ personal goals and lets them prioritize their families. One way we do this is through a generous personal time off (PTO) policy.

We offer unlimited vacation time as well as unlimited sick time. We encourage employees to take time off for both personal and family goals, as well as when they need to care for ailing family members.

In addition, we provide resources for employees so they can continue working from home and/or work on a flexible schedule while they are taking time away.

Luciano Colos, CEO, PitchGrade

5. Nutritional Support 

One aspect of healthcare that spans the entire lifecycle is nutrition. So one benefit worth considering is coverage for prescribed nutritional supplements — not just prescription drugs. Other ways to support nutritional needs during different life stages is by providing access to educational information and expert talks about nutrition.

Optimum nutrition at each phase in the lifecycle promotes more robust immune systems and higher energy levels. That means it helps keep your workforce and their families healthier. So ultimately, these benefits ensure better performance at work and fewer illness-related absences. 

Ruth Novales, Marketing Director, Fortis Medical Billing Professionals

6. Family Medical Leave

Family medical leave is one benefit every employer should consider to help employees address the full lifecycle, from fertility to family planning to elder care.

Family medical leave helps protect an employee’s job for up to 12 weeks if they become ill or they need to care for a family member. A supervisor cannot fire an employee when they rely on this benefit for a legitimate reason, so it can provide a helpful safety net if the need arises.

Lindsey Hight, HR Professional, Sporting Smiles

 

EDITOR’S NOTE: These caregiving benefits ideas were submitted via Terkel. Terkel is a knowledge platform that shares community-driven content based on expert insights. To see questions and get published, sign up at terkel.io.

Edu Carvalho

The Forgotten (Yet Costly) Employee Crisis: Elder Care

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Figuratively speaking, the number of articles dedicated to discussing the COVID-caused childcare crisis could fill a school library. But little has been written regarding the other side of the generational spectrum: Elder care.

When it became evident the remote learning arrangements imposed at the tail end of the 2019-20 school year would continue well into the current one, the full weight of what this would mean for working parents was expressed in headlines across the country. The Associated Press reported on the distressingly common instance of mothers being forced from the workforce, for example. Meanwhile The Atlantic analyzed the rock-and-a-hard place scenario that parents deemed essential workers have regarding childcare – including the fact that 15 states lack free childcare options.

So, it is entirely logical that the most pressing caregiving topic would surround the struggles faced by employed parents. Whether those parents were working from home or not – attention would be paid to those balancing careers with child caregiving. However, this understandable emphasis on our children has diverted attention from a problem that was looming long before iPads became de facto classrooms: the challenges employees face providing care for elderly loved ones.

Comprehending the Employee Elder Care Crisis

Not surprisingly, the impact on elder caregivers has been profound. According to the Genworth Caring in COVID-19 Consumer Sentiment Survey, 1 in 3 respondents unexpectedly became caregivers overnight. The average time investment was an onerous nine hours per week, a typical work shift, to provide care for an older and/or vulnerable loved one.

Many, of course, may have already been providing unpaid caregiving to a loved one, meaning the pandemic simply exacerbated an already time- and energy-consuming situation. Caregiving during COVID-19 can also be very emotionally taxing: 49% of those polled in the same survey felt more anxiety and 53% felt more stress due to the added emotional toll of COVID-19.

Fortunately, the COVID crisis may make some employers more aware of—and sympathetic to—their employees’ caregiving responsibilities. This awakening can’t come quickly enough: Research conducted before the COVID-19 crisis shows that many employers were unaware of their employees’ caregiving responsibilities. Seventy percent of employees reported having missed work due to caregiving duties. And, 32% of caregiving employees had voluntarily left a job during their career due to caregiving responsibilities. Further, companies face increased health care costs incurred by employers for employees with caregiving responsibilities exceeds $13 billion a year.

Despite all this, employer-sponsored caregiving resources are typically limited in scope. They often, for example, take the form of an employee assistance program (EAP) that may provide a limited range of services, such as referrals and access to potential providers via phone and/or online portal.

Bolstering Caregiver Work-Life Balance

The harsh reality is: COVID-19 has made the Employee Caregiving Crisis more urgent than ever. For their own sake, it is time for employers to forge pathways to relief. With 54% of caregivers juggling their caregiving responsibilities and a full- or part-time job, employers need to understand and meet the needs of their caregiving employees.

To help their caregiving employees – and their company – here are five tips for employers that can help elder caregivers thrive during these challenging times:

Communicate and Create a Culture of Collaboration

Seek a better understanding of everyone’s individual situations. It is impossible to understand the breadth or depth of employees’ caregiving responsibilities without an open, honest discussion about their challenges. It is also important for employers to initiate this dialogue. After all, employees may be hesitant to do so for a variety of reasons.

Enable Flexible Schedules to Strike a Better Balance

With new or added workloads, many employees may be juggling caregiving duties and work responsibilities. To help them find a balance their competing roles, offer flexible scheduling options. For example: Flexible work hours, the ability to work from home, etc.

Expect the Unexpected

Build in extra time for important projects, and set clear expectations around deadlines, team communication and client support. COVID-19 has given many employers crash courses in disruption adaptation. We can lean upon these lessons to improve business flexibility—without sacrificing overall job performances

Offer a Strong Support System

To ease their responsibilities, many elder caregivers are now looking for more support from their employers. An easy way to help is by providing guidance and personal support to those struggling. For example, share trusted links to information on support groups and related webinars. And post articles that provide solutions to caregiving problems. Self-care tools like wellness videos or meditation apps can be valuable. Also considered valuable: Financial planning classes offered by employers or third-party specialists.

Assess Your Policy Options

To adequately adapt to the workforce’s evolving caregiving needs, employers may want to reexamine company policies and benefits. With COVID-19 creating a new normal, and so they can focus on their work, employees may need benefits that can help them find care for their aging loved ones. Offering attractive benefits that meet employee caregiving needs can help set a company apart—a tool to help attract and retain top talent, lower absenteeism, increase productivity, and reduce turnover.

Easing the Burden Placed on Elder Care Providers

Just as important for many, such specialist-driven caregiving employee benefits allow employees to stop playing professional caregiving coordinator. For example, identifying and assessing provider options is a caregiving issue in which experience and specialization are highly advantageous. This specialty helps determine provider availability but while negotiating rates based on knowledge of typical care costs.

With specialist-driven caregiving benefits, employees no longer need mastermind a highly complex, multi-factor caregiving regimen.

COVID-19 has pushed employers toward a number of new norms. One of those should be taking better care of employee elder caregivers. And we can do that through increased employer awareness, systemic support, and customized benefit offerings.

Companies are currently repositioning themselves for optimal success now, and into the future. That makes this the perfect time to re-assess exactly what employees need to thrive within their very personal new normal, including employee benefits that cover the cost of elder care.