Caring for caregivers makes good business sense

Today, 1 in 5 employees are doing double duty by providing care for a loved one, with women taking on the responsibility most often.¹ Many spend an average of 20 unpaid hours a week providing hands-on care for children, aging parents, and adults with disabilities on top of the time they spend at work.²

The impact on businesses in the U.S. is significant. Caregiving can cost employers $6,410 per employee, per year in productivity loss — and employees who are caregivers miss an average of 3.2 workdays per month.³ Furthermore, nearly one-third have voluntarily left a job because of their caregiving responsibilities.⁴

Understanding how caregiving impacts your employees

As the need for caregiving grows, workplaces that recognize and prepare for it can help employees navigate their dual roles effectively.

Employers can take steps to cultivate workplaces where caregivers feel better supported to balance their responsibilities at work and at home. Some companies started to do this during the pandemic when caregivers’ need for more flexibility became more obvious. Now it’s time for more employers to act — or face the reality of a shrinking talent pool, decreased productivity, and a disengaged workforce.

Caregiving costs employers money and top talent

Women who are caregivers also pay a serious economic cost for caregiving in the form of limiting work hours, turning down job promotions, loss of benefits, and pausing work or even retiring early. When you consider lifetime earnings, the opportunity cost of interrupting a career to assume full-time caregiving duties may be as high as 3 or 4 times a person’s potential annual salary.¹⁰

It’s no wonder then that women of every age are placing a premium on equitable, supportive, inclusive, and flexible workplaces — and switching jobs at higher rates than ever.¹¹ Young women are particularly ambitious and place an even greater premium on these values.

Leading-edge companies know this and reap the benefits. Almost 70% of women in highly flexible work arrangements say they plan to stay with their company for more than 3 years, compared to only 19% of women who have no flexibility.¹² Companies that don’t offer flexibility miss out on a retention play.

Putting off preventive care leads to health issues

Between caregiving and managing work, caregivers are left with little time to care for themselves. Caregivers tend to neglect their own health.

A poll showed that 45% of women — who are responsible for the majority of caregiving tasks — went without preventive screenings, checkups, or vaccines in the past 12 months, with limited time to schedule appointments being one of the top reasons.¹³ In addition, almost 2 out of 5 caregivers have 2 or more chronic conditions.¹⁴

Neglecting preventive care puts caregivers at increased risk for disease and can exacerbate existing conditions. Uncontrolled hypertension, for example, can lead to heart disease and stroke, while missed mammograms may delay cancer diagnosis. This puts their health at risk and costs employers more.

Supporting caregivers is a workforce health essential

Going forward, employers who are attuned to — and proactive about — the emerging needs of caregiving employees will have a competitive advantage. These shifts that are happening are not a passing phenomenon, but a societal truth. More employees will become unpaid caregivers over time — and as smart businesses adapt to this new normal, supporting caregiving will become a workforce health imperative for smart business leaders everywhere.