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by Alexis Abramson, Ph.D.
In a recent survey nearly two-thirds of caregivers listed eldercare benefits in the workplace as their most pressing concern, trumping such evergreen healthcare issues as cost of care, patients rights and insuring the uninsured.
This answer is not surprising, however, when you consider that an estimated 34 million U.S. households - nearly one in four - currently provide informal care to a parent or relative age 50 or older. That number is expected to rise significantly as the population ages. In fact, more than half of Americans say it is “very likely” that they will be responsible for the care of an elderly parent or relative in the next ten years.
The issue of eldercare benefits has become especially important to women, since they make up approximately 72% of the caregivers in the United States. Nearly half of those women are raising children under the age of 18 while concurrently caregiving. This group is commonly referred to as the “sandwich generation” and is made up of those folks who are caught between taking care of both their parents and their children simultaneously.
Most troublesome for caregivers is the fact that most are working full or part-time in addition to tending to their parents or other mature relatives an average of 13 hours per week. Indeed, eldercare is quickly catching up to childcare as the “hot button issue” facing female employees today and they want to know how their employers will assist them in the future.
Fortunately, corporate America has begun to recognize these trends. Eldercare has become one of the fastest growing work-family employee benefits to emerge in the past decade. Estimates by MetLife put the aggregate costs of caregiving in lost productivity to U.S. business at about $11.4 billion per year. In response to this and subsequent research about a third of Fortune 500 companies now offer ‘eldercare benefits’ above and beyond flextime.
So, what exactly can an employer do to make eldercare easier for their employees? The benefits usually include some combination of the following:
- Unpaid leave: All employees in the U.S. working for companies with 50 or more employees are eligible for this benefit under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. This piece of legislation guarantees workers 12 weeks of unpaid leave, with retention of full medical and dental benefits. But the trend among nearly a quarter of Fortune 500 companies is to offer even more to their employees. Some companies, for instance, allow workers to take up to one year of unpaid leave for every two years of employment; most receive full medical and dental for the first six months and their seniority and jobs are guaranteed upon their return.
- Referral services: These services link employees with a range of eldercare services nationwide, making it possible to arrange for the care of a parent across town or across the country. Referrals are the most common approach to eldercare assistance and are offered by nearly all employers with eldercare programs. Referral services help employees find everything from check writing services to bonded help for at-home care.
- Eldercare reimbursement: Similar to childcare reimbursement, this benefit helps employees manage financial obligations. A percentage of the employee's paycheck is automatically deducted and set aside, then reimbursed at the end of the year.
- Long-term-care insurance (LTC): LTC insurance is becoming an increasingly common benefit – it was offered by about 25 percent of employers with eldercare programs last year. Since the beneficiaries of long-term-care insurance can vary, sometimes it can be extended to parents or even parents-in-law.
- Counseling: Usually offered through an employee-assistance program, counseling is available for the employee and family members affected by caregiving stress, some companies even extend this benefit to the aging parent.
- Flexible spending account: This benefit eases the strain of paying the medical expenses for an older person in your care. From your pretax income, money is automatically set aside and reimbursed upon receipt of health-related expenses.
Even if benefits exist on paper, most employees say their supervisor's attitude and behavior also influences the usage of eldercare benefits. Some managers send mixed signals if employees try to use the benefit; the success of eldercare programs in the workplace is tied directly to managerial encouragement and supportiveness from the work environment.
If demographic projections and increased life expectancies bear out in the next 25 years, we can expect to have the largest senior population in U.S. history. For most of us, this is a good thing - it means we will be spending more years with our loved ones than ever before. For others, it is a mixed blessing that comes with its share of difficulties. Now that corporate America is paying attention, perhaps we can reduce those burdens.
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