How companies can ease the strain on employees taking care of elderly parents or ill family members

(CNN) — Taking care of an elderly parent or seriously ill spouse or family member can be physically and emotionally draining — and expensive for the caregiver in more ways than one.

But being a caregiver while also holding down a job is a recipe for burnout.

Of the estimated 48 million people in the United States who are taking care of adult relatives or friends, a majority (61%) have been employed while caregiving, most of them full time, according to a 2020 report from AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving.

Unsurprisingly, a majority of working caregivers say they have some trouble balancing their competing responsibilities, according to a 2023 survey by AARP and S&P Global of self-identified caregivers employed full- or part-time at very large companies.

Among the ways that strain is playing out, 50% said they get in late, leave early or take time off; 32% took a leave of absence; 37% cut back on hours worked or switched to part time; 16% turned down a promotion; and nearly 16% stopped working for a while.

What employers are doing

Given the aging of the US population, coupled with people staying in the workforce longer, “caregiving is only going to get more prevalent in the work space,” said Melinda Izbicki, a senior principal at HR consulting firm Mercer.

While employers have been expanding their benefits to help employees start families and more easily care for their children, they are now thinking more holistically about what it means to support employees’ family lives, including benefits for things like elder care, Izbicki said.

Giving employees flexibility in where and when they work to accommodate their caregiving obligations is essential support. But some employers are offering more tangible assistance as well.

A recent Mercer survey of companies with 500 or more employees found that: 34% currently offer or plan to offer next year elder care referrals or consultations, 20% offer access to back up elder care services, 17% offer concierge caregiver support, 16% offer care coordination navigation services, 14% offer elder care leave and 10% offer digital tools to support caregivers.

The percentages offering these types of benefits are even higher among employers with 5,000 or more employees.

The ROI for companies

Caregiving tends to be episodic in employees’ lives, said Joseph Fuller, a professor of management practice at Harvard Business School. So, for example, your widowed parent is healthy and living independently for years, until they’re diagnosed with dementia or cancer, or they fall and break a hip.

Fuller constructed a return-on-investment model to assess the value of providing caregiving benefits. Using data from employee surveys at nearly 100 companies that offered their workforce access to Wellthy, a caregiving benefits company that provides care navigation among other services, his analysis found that 30% of respondents on average said those benefits prevented them from taking a leave or resigning.

Given the high cost of replacing employees, reducing turnover can mean the cost of providing caregiving benefits will more than pay for itself.

“When the average cost to replace those workers was 50% (of a person’s salary), ROI was estimated to be roughly between 225% and 340%, with higher returns as cost to replace increases,” Fuller noted in his study, which also found a majority of respondents said having caregiving benefits reduced their daily absenteeism, thereby increasing their time for work.

Protecting caregivers’ finances

Working caregivers navigate a lot: Finding doctors, heath care aides and assisted living facilities or nursing homes. Transporting a loved one to medical appointments, picking up prescriptions and keeping track of medication schedules. Helping with a person’s daily tasks like grocery shopping and cleaning. The list goes on.

So, it pays for caregivers to first navigate what workplace benefits are available to help. If there aren’t formal ones like those discussed above, certified financial planner Danielle Miura, who specializes in caregiver finances, recommends at least communicating with your employer about your situation to see what accommodations are possible (e.g., explaining what your anticipated obligations are and seeing if you can work more flexible hours or telecommute more, or even take time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act).

Beyond your employer, there may be other ways to reduce the physical, mental and financial costs of caregiving.

A 2021 AARP study found that the majority of caregivers incur out-of-pocket expenses that average north of $7,000 a year.

One way to recoup some of that money may be reducing your tax bill if you can claim the person you’re caring for as a dependent, said Miura, who created a tax help sheet and a general resource page for family caregivers.

See, too, if there are any “respite grants” offered by local agencies where you live so you can take a break.

Miura also recommends communicating with other family members to let them know how they can support your caregiving efforts, including contributing regularly to a “solutions fund” — a dedicated pot of money to pay for what will lighten your load (e.g., a cleaning service, some days of adult day care, or your own personal care such as getting a haircut, massage or therapy).

“Caregivers need caregivers too,” Miura said.

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