Why the Current Caregiving Crisis Is a Business Problem Worth Solving

BY Stephanie Reed | October 23, 2023

“Would you rather care for the ones that you love, or show up for work?” Jess Marble, director of growth marketing at Care for Business, asked the audience at From Day One’s Manhattan conference. What started as a casual “this or that” segment turned serious when Marble prompted this question.

This led Marble to discuss the nationwide reality of a lack of adequate family caregiving support and resources. This lack of resources impacts workers' commitment to their job and their performance, further challenged by the shifts in the workforce with the growth of fully remote positions and dwindling Covid 19 federal resources.

“This is going to get a lot worse,” said Marble on the impending effects of declining Covid 19 federal resources. “On September 30, funding from the American Rescue Plan will expire. $24 billion in federal funding for child care will no longer be available.”

Company benefits need to reflect the needs of workers as the economy continues to experience drastic changes. This year, more companies are accommodating workers and at the forefront of further transforming corporate values toward authentically prioritizing workers, promoting a more sustainable workplace culture, reducing care inaccessibility and resource inequity, and upholding family values.

Adapting to Another Economic Evolution

Despite the inevitable setback with federal funding cuts on care services, like the withdrawal of the American Rescue Plan, employers are creating practical solutions to support the well-being of their workers by acknowledging the positive impact on productivity when they provide more care benefits.

Marble led the thought leadership spotlight titled, “Benefit Priority Shifts in a Changing Economy: Why the Current Caregiving Crisis Is a Business Problem Worth Solving" in Manhattan (company photo)

46% of employers surveyed by Care for Business plan to prioritize more childcare, and 43% will prioritize more senior care. Care, a company helping workers find quality family services to reform an imbalanced work/life culture, published its survey of 500 HR departments and their corporate strategies in their Future of Benefits 2023 Report.

The report highlights the process and benefits of employers adapting to the demands of the economy to support employee retention, improve performance, and increase company productivity.

How Employers Can Successfully Expand Benefits

Care for Business aims to balance the needs of employers and workers with humane solutions to promote a sustainable economy and cultivate higher employee engagement by prioritizing family care. The company offers the following tips to help employers provide adequate benefits in a changing economy.

  1. Survey employees and identify the challenges they face outside the workplace. Consult with managers to gather valuable information from employees about the challenges they face at home.
  2. Follow up with employees to learn what has changed, what services will be implemented long-term as a sustainable solution, and what works. 
  3. Advocate for care using data and statistics on productivity in companies that provide care benefits. Care provides its 2023 Cost of Care Report as an available resource with over a decade of data recording the shift in national care accessibility and cost-efficient measures employers can take to expand benefits.
  4. Evaluate the market and look for providers who address comprehensive care benefits rather than offer single-issue solutions.

More employers recognize their power to make caregiving services the focal point of workplace benefits. Providing care benefits means workers will value their hybrid positions and perform better.

Without Care, People Cannot Work

Employers across America take on the arduous task of working with fewer resources but providing enough to incentivize workers to keep showing up in what Marble describes as a “vicious cycle.” Confronting this cycle with authentic solutions will spearhead another radical transformation of corporate values, cultivating workplaces where workers will not have to choose between keeping their hybrid or on-site jobs or being there for their families.

20% of working parents quit or cut their working hours when they do not have adequate access to child care, and 70% of senior caregivers experience a decline in productivity. Care published this assessment of Harvard Business Review’s survey revealing the effects of workers lacking childcare support and the Council on Aging’s data emphasizing the hardships of working senior caregivers.

The correlation between childcare benefits and work productivity, as supported by these findings, is crucial, says Marble. Companies offering backup care save 10 missed work days per employee each year. The mutual benefits of family care resources are undeniable: fewer missed days save time, money, and resources.

With these findings, Marble highlights the importance of employers doing their part. In addition to more family support policies coming out of the federal government, the care accessibility gap can be closed and create sustainable economic growth.

“If my employer isn’t willing to support me and those who I love at home, there are options out there for me to go and find a different employer who is.”

Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, Care for Business, for sponsoring this thought leadership spotlight.

Stephanie Reed is a freelance news, marketing, and content writer. She writes for entrepreneurs across diverse industries and is passionate about promoting small, eco-conscious businesses. 

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In the food and hospitality industry, 58% of the survey respondents said they concentrate on the needs of professional, knowledge based, office employees.But, an interesting statistic from this year’s report is, in 2023, 73% of the American workforce is a working caregiver.Hourly and frontline workers need the most in terms of child and senior care benefits, and these workers also have the most at risk to lose with sparse income without the support of their employer. 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Employers are starting to recognize the positive impact of family care benefits in the workforce and are recalibrating their packages to support those strategies and spend accordingly.Despite this, some business leaders are holding off on expanding benefits because they want to know what government policy will be. But many employers are choosing to be more proactive, and are lobbying state and federal government to be their partners in addressing family care.Overall, employers are taking advantage of the state and federal support that’s available. Marble said, “96% of benefits leaders are aware of the employer provided childcare tax credit, and 75% say that they use it. But of those that don't use the tax credit, nearly 90% say that they would use it if it was broadened to include more types of childcare. 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