Help Employees Balance Work and Care: 5 Critical Considerations

Balancing work and care for family is a growing challenge for many employees, and it’s more complex than many organizations realize.

As the demands of work and caregiving intensify, many employers face a critical question:

How can they better support employees without sacrificing business outcomes?

How To Support the Work and Care Balance

Addressing these challenges requires understanding the breadth of care responsibilities, acknowledging systemic barriers, and crafting practical solutions to ensure all employees can thrive.

Here are five trends in care that organizations will want to consider.

1. More Employees Juggle Family Care Than You Might Think

Most employers don’t track how many caregivers are part of their workforce, even though research shows about 73% of employees have caregiving responsibilities. That’s a substantial portion of most companies’ teams. On average, these employees allocate more than 20 hours weekly to caregiving.

So why is tracking this important? Without tracking caregiving trends, it’s easy to miss how this impacts employee well-being, especially because worker wellness affects productivity.

Ignoring caregiving responsibilities leaves employers in the dark about their workforce’s needs and how to support them effectively. Understanding these challenges isn’t just about empathy—it’s about building a strategy to create a more resilient organization.

2. Family Care Goes Beyond Childcare

When employers consider the care needs of their employees, their focus often lands on childcare—and understandably so. U.S. businesses lose an estimated total of $44 billion annually due to childcare challenges, and the majority of working parents have had to reduce their hours or leave their jobs to care for their children. However, the scope of care extends far beyond childcare. It includes eldercare, special needs care, and the often-overlooked need for self-care. According to SHRM, Caregiving can cost employers $6,410 per employee, per year in productivity loss.

Consider this: More than one in six Americans working full- or part-time provide care for an elderly or disabled family member or friend. This role often comes with emotional weight, as caregivers witness their loved one’s quality of life decline, compounding the stress of balancing work and caregiving.

Self-care, too, is a critical component—though it is less about mindfulness exercises and more about recovering from major life events, like injury or parental leave. These events often leave employees struggling to balance their health with job responsibilities. Alarmingly, more than half of employees who take parental leave don’t return to their jobs, underscoring the business impact of unmet care needs.

3. There Are Gaps in Care Access for Essential Workers

Essential workers—like frontline employees, hourly workers, women, and people of color—face significant challenges accessing affordable care for their families.

The expiration of the $24 billion Child Care Stabilization Program in September 2023 has made things even more difficult for many, with an estimated 70,000 childcare programs at risk of closing, leaving 3.2 million children without care. Rising costs mean families are now spending up to 20% of their median income on childcare, and elder care can also be costly and challenging, with private nursing homes costing over $10,000 per month.

Can most employees’ salaries realistically cover these expenses? Many are left with no choice but to rely on unpaid caregiving, often taking multiple days off each month to manage family responsibilities. Over half of caregivers consider quitting during their leave, and women disproportionately shoulder the burden, providing 65% of informal care.

Families of color face even more hurdles, with limited access to affordable, quality care and systemic disparities in programs like Head Start. These gaps create additional stress, driving employees out of the workforce and compounding the care crisis. The U.S. workforce is less diverse due to the care crisis, and it’s a challenge that demands attention.

4. A Lack of Care Support Can Reduce Workforce Loyalty and Performance

While we touched on how poor care support affects employees, the full extent of its impact has yet to be explored. For some, the demands can become too much: One in three caregivers leave their jobs entirely due to caregiving pressures. This turnover isn’t just a personal loss—it costs employers six to nine months of an employee’s salary to replace and train new hires.

For those who stay, the strain is undeniable. What’s more, 80% of employees with caregiving duties say it affects their job performance, contributing to significant financial losses. Businesses face up to $33 billion annually in caregiving-related productivity hits, adding to the staggering $1.8 trillion in lost productivity across U.S. workplaces each year.

The problem is compounded by a lack of care and leadership support, a key reason employees leave their roles. What message does it send when employees feel their struggles are invisible? Ignoring caregiving needs doesn’t just lead to burnout—it fosters a culture where employees feel undervalued and disconnected.

5. The Work-Care Struggle For Employees is Projected to be Compounded

The care crisis is intensifying. Pandemic-era childcare funding is expiring, driving up costs that are already increasing nearly twice as fast as inflation. At the same time, the sandwich generation—those caring for both children and aging parents—is expanding. By 2030, this group is expected to make up 25% of the workforce. To manage caregiving costs, many in this demographic rely on their own income (41%), the income of the care recipient (28%), or funds from emergency savings (28%).

Businesses can no longer afford to ignore these challenges. Those that fail to act risk falling behind in recruitment, retention and productivity. Solutions like on-site childcare centers and earned wage access, which allows employees to access their earnings immediately, are gaining traction. But perhaps the most impactful response is the rise of care benefits—programs offering subsidized or reimbursed backup care for when emergency or last-minute care is needed.

The data is compelling: 80% of employees prefer perks or benefits over a salary increase, and backup care programs have been linked to a 56% productivity boost. Additionally, childcare benefits deliver a projected 425% return on investment for businesses.

Once reserved for industries like law, finance and tech, care benefits are now being tailored to frontline and hourly workers by providers, making them more affordable and accessible than ever.

The bottom line? Businesses must act. Whether through care benefits, childcare support or financial tools, the key is to implement solutions that meet employees where they are—and address the growing demands of caregiving.

Meeting the Care Crisis Head-On

The challenges of balancing work and caregiving aren’t going away—in fact, they’re intensifying. As employees juggle responsibilities for children, aging parents and even their own recovery, the strain on their well-being and productivity grows. This isn’t just a personal issue; it’s a workplace issue, and businesses have a choice: adapt or risk losing valuable talent.

Supporting employees with innovative care solutions isn’t just about improving their lives—it’s about strengthening organizations. Programs like subsidized care, earned wage access and flexible work policies don’t just benefit caregivers; they boost morale, loyalty and performance across the board.