A survey of over 700 HR leaders has highlighted a significant gap when it comes to employee benefits – a lack of support for family caregivers (those caring for adult children, sick partners and parents) in the workforce is an omission that could be costing businesses more than they realise.

The new survey done, run in partnership with HR Ninjas, investigates the situation of one in five employees juggling work and family caregiving responsibilities. HR leaders believe it’s impacting productivity, engagement and retention across a range of industries, and yet only 5.7% of organisations currently offer dedicated family caregiver support programmes.

Evolving crisis

Stephanie Leung, founder and CEO of KareHero, an employee benefit provider supporting family caregivers, explains the gravity of the situation: “Right now, we are at a crisis point in terms of care in this country. We've got record numbers of people on long-term sick leave, but how are employees actually managing that?"

The answer is: many aren’t managing, which has a negative impact on their productivity at work, and can even prevent them from turning up at all.

Unfortunately, even forward-thinking organisations – those who routinely champion flexible working arrangements and employee benefits such as health insurance – seem to have a blindspot when it comes to helping employees manage care for loved ones.

Gender dimension

This lack of support means a significant portion of the workforce is at risk of burnout. It also exacerbates issues such as age discrimination and the gender pay gap, because women and older employees are more likely than men and young people to be caring for loved ones.

As Stephanie points out: “By the time you’re 50, you have a 50% chance of being a carer, but if you’re a woman, the average age of becoming a carer is 47, compared with 53 for a man.”

The effect this has on a business’ bottom line is substantial. Over half (50.5%) of those surveyed said that adult caregiving responsibilities among employees had a negative impact on their organisation.

The ROI of caregiving support

In contrast, the potential returns of providing caregiver support benefits are compelling. Most obviously, it leads to improved productivity. As Stephanie points out: “People who identified as carers say they feel 50% less productive because there’s so much on their mind.”

Proving caregiver support also improves employee retention. A huge 82.9% of HR leaders surveyed believe caregiver support has an impact on employee retention. And that's not surprising. "Hundreds of people walk out every day due to caregiving responsibilities, and they just don't come back,” says Stephanie.

After all, consider the context. “Very few people realise that you mostly come into care quite suddenly,” she explains. “It completely reshapes the entire framing of who you are as a person. It doesn't matter if you’re a CEO or a first-year analyst in a bank, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, my whole life, my whole baseline has shifted. It’s never going to be the same again!’ And you just have to manage it.”

Too often, that means talented employees simply quit, because they can't cope with the demands of caring and work. With the proper support in place, though, that needn't happen.

“If you're able to create that stable place, and be someone they can rely on, they get their productivity back,” Stephanie explains. “They stop quitting, so retention goes up. And they don't have to burn out, because now they can flag it earlier, and their manager and HR can offer support to take that burden off their plate.”

The data is clear: caregiving support is no longer a “nice-to-have” benefit, it’s a critical component of a comprehensive employee support strategy. By investing in caregiving support, companies can unlock the untapped potential of their workforce, boost productivity, and create a more inclusive and supportive work environment.

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