opportunities
Employers are more engaged than ever in the care conversation, recognizing a greater need to take action.
Employers increasingly understand the why
Employers of all shapes and sizes, from rural health systems like the Hospital Authority of Miller County in Colquitt, Georgia to small businesses like Red Rooster Coffee to Fortune 100 companies like AT&T, are investing in care supports for their workforces. It’s a top priority for employees–a recent Care.com survey even suggested that child care is the number one priority after basic benefits like health insurance and paid time off. And it’s got a big ROI for employers, as evidenced by studies from BCG and Mom’s First and Harvard Business School.
Put emphasis on the how
Thankfully, the mainstream conversation is therefore becoming more and more about how to invest in care and less about why to invest in care. Tools like EPIC’s Child Care Navigator and communities like JUST Capital’s Corporate Care Network are aiding employers in determining the solutions that might best meet the needs of their workforces. And SHRM, Milken Institute, and US News and World Report are translating this momentum into a list of the best workplaces supporting family caregivers.
Who is talking about this
Emily Dickens SHRM
Jennifer Stybel Pivotal Ventures
Joan Blough Early Childhood Investment Corporation
Joe Fuller HArvard Business School
Laura Kohn Mission Driven Finance
Melissa Danielsen Joshin
Steph Itelman EPIC
Tolu Lawrence JUST Capital
Business leaders and HR professionals play a pivotal role in shaping benefit plans that truly address the evolving needs of their workforce. By acknowledging this reality and prioritizing the well-being of caregivers, we demonstrate not just empathy but a genuine commitment to building compassionate, sustainable workplaces. Providing employees with the resources to care for ill, aging, or injured loved ones isn't just a benefit—it's an essential strategy for fostering a resilient and dedicated workforce.
Emily Dickens
Chief of Staff, Head of Government Affairs, and Corporate Secretary
SHRM
I'm optimistic about the potential of increasing child care supply through cross-sector solutions with economic development organizations and the growing number of employers in our state who are becoming child care champions.
Joan Blough
Senior Director, Child Care Innovation Fund
Early Childhood Investment Corporation
Business leaders and business advocacy organizations such as Chambers of Commerce have recently been elevating child care scarcity and unaffordability as a top barrier to business growth.
Laura Kohn
VP, Care and Education
mission driven finance
2024 is the year we saw the most focus on neurodiversity (and disability) in the workplace and in general. Our manager enrollment has doubled in 2024 from 2023 as managers are increasingly feeling the need for support.
Melissa Danielsen
Co-Founder and CEO
joshin
From employers, we continue to see a more inclusive expansion of the definition of caregiver, and depth of understanding of their needs following the momentum escalated during the height of the global COVID pandemic. It's permeated the market in ways that are moving the needle on everything from the types of care benefits provided by employers, and who has access to those benefits, as well as innovation in care.
Tolu Lawrence
Chief Impact Officer
JUST Capital
challenges
Broader employer engagement has not yet translated into commensurate investment in care supports.
Hovering at 50%
Momentum and evidence withstanding, we have a huge hill to climb to get all employers of all shapes and sizes investing in care benefits. SHRM’s Employee Benefits Surveys and Mercer’s Global Benefits Attitudes Surveys suggest that we hover around 50% of companies offering a caregiving benefit. We are also navigating a landscape where many employers are asserting greater influence over workplace policies—seen in measures such as return-to-office mandates that, in some cases, reduce the flexibility that caregivers rely on. At the same time, economic pressures and cost concerns are prompting companies to scrutinize discretionary benefits more closely, weighing their value against broader financial and operational priorities.
Low-wage workers are still often left out
These pressures are especially true for those companies that employ the lower-wage front-line workers that are the most in need of these types of benefits. These workers are the least likely to benefit from employer-sponsored care policies and benefits, from paid family leave to subsidized back up care. Some companies are making these investments–Starbucks provides a backup child or adult care benefit and senior care planning services–but it still tends to be the exception and not the rule. NationSwell’s Child Care For All platform is serving as a beacon of information on the case for investing in this workforce and the strategies and solutions employer can deploy.
Who is talking about this
Amanta Mazumdar hilton
Joe Fuller Harvard Business School
Lynn Perkins UrbanSitter
Melissa Danielsen Joshin
Susan Golden Stanford
The uncertainty about the election and the economy meant that many companies delayed making decisions about purchases and new contracts. In 2024, we saw fewer new buyers for benefits with many companies letting us know that they will revisit this in 2025.
Lynn Perkins
Co-Founder and CEO
urbansitter
While caregiving has entered into the conversation irrevocably, the response of employers is muted at best. Many companies are reining in their hybrid and remote work programs. That impacts caregivers to a degree greater than any other segment of workers. It’s easy to brush off such decisions as insensitive and arbitrary, but sophisticated companies don't make controversial choices lightly. Most will have some considerable logic underlying a decision they know will alienate some workers and generate bad public relations. What is disappointing is the failure of most companies to complement such a decision with policy changes or benefits enhancements that address the consequences.
Joe Fuller
Professor and Co-Director, Managing the Future of Work Project
HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL
Many employers are cutting back on benefits overall as a way to reduce costs, so care benefits may be among them despite the ROI of care being well established.
Susan Golden
Professor and Author, Stage (Not Age)
stanford