Is Your Organization Ready to Support Caregivers in the New Year?

Caregiving has become a defining part of the modern workforce, and the beginning of a new year is the perfect moment for organizations to reassess how well they’re supporting the employees who shoulder that responsibility every day. Throughout this blog, we’ll be referencing data and insights from Guardian’s Workforce to Careforce research and webinar to ground the discussion in clear, reliable findings that reflect what employees are facing today.

Caregivers are everywhere in your workforce. They are parents, adult children, partners, loved ones caring through cancer, disability, chronic illness, or aging. And as Guardian’s research shows, most organizations are still unprepared for the level of strain those employees are carrying. Below is a grounded, data-backed guide to understanding the scope of the issue and the concrete steps you can take to strengthen your caregiver support strategy for the coming year.

Caregiving Responsibilities Touch Every Part of the Workforce

One of Guardian’s most striking findings is that more than 70% of all workers provide care for a loved one. For employers, that means caregiving is not a niche problem. It is a dominant workforce reality.

Employees aren’t caring in just one direction either; they’re supporting children, adults with chronic needs, aging parents, and partners recovering from illness. Another Guardian data point shows that 43% of workers actively identify as caregivers, while rising costs for child care, fuel, groceries, and housing have intensified financial strain. Put simply: nearly every team, department, and manager in your organization interacts with caregivers daily.

A Growing Shortage of Professional Care Magnifies the Pressure

Guardian highlights that the demand for paid care professionals is outpacing supply, creating ongoing shortages in home health, personal care, and other essential services. As a result, families are absorbing tasks that would otherwise be handled by trained professionals.

The economic impact is enormous. If unpaid caregiving were compensated at the rate of professional care work, it would be valued at over $1.1 trillion annually. Employees aren’t just juggling work and home responsibilities; they're also taking on labor that the formal care system can’t keep up with.

Women and Single Parents Are Disproportionately Affected

Throughout Guardian’s webinar, one message was clear: caregiving burden is not evenly distributed.

• 44% of women have considered reducing their work hours due to child care or family needs.
  
  
• 38% have considered leaving their jobs altogether.
  
  
• 35% have turned down a promotion because of family responsibilities.

And as more large companies reverse flexibility, Fortune 500 full-time office requirements increased from 13% to 24%, and women lose what little balancing room they had. Guardian also notes that women are five times more likely than men to say they are not working because of caregiving responsibilities. Single parents face even steeper challenges:

• 39% have had to take extended leave, compared with 22% of partnered parents.
  
  
• 50% rate their financial health as “fair” or “poor.”

These aren’t small numbers. They reflect systemic patterns that directly influence retention, advancement, and equity.

Caregiving Has Real Health and Financial Consequences

Employees are trying to show up, meet deadlines, and maintain performance while carrying invisible, overwhelming responsibilities. Guardian’s findings show how caregiving affects the full spectrum of wellbeing:

• More than one-third of caregivers who take leave for a loved one eventually need to take leave for themselves.
  
  
• Caregivers experience higher rates of anxiety, burnout, and substance use.
  
  
• They face steep financial costs, including lost wages and home modifications, such as wheelchair ramps, which average $4,000.
  
  
• 38% live paycheck to paycheck, and 37% say they struggle to manage their finances.

Why “Caregiver-Ready” Must Be a Core Strategic Priority This Year

In earlier versions of this topic, we explored what it means to be a caregiver-ready organization: policies, culture, communication, and measurement. When those areas are only half met or not met at all, employers experience higher turnover, increased absenteeism and presenteeism, lower engagement, disproportionate impacts on women and single parents, and rising burnout.

Guardian’s data reinforces that organizations can no longer treat caregiving as something employees “figure out on their own.” It must be intentionally built into company structures.

Five New-Year Commitments To Strengthen Caregiver Support

Below are five commitments that any organization, regardless of size, can take into the new year. Each one aligns with the data we’ve pulled from Guardian’s reporting.

1. Make Flexible Work a Standard, Not an Exception

According to Guardian, only half of employees have ever discussed their caregiving needs with a manager, even though 54% say a flexible schedule is the most meaningful benefit. And 36% worry about the financial impact of needing time off to care for a loved one. As organizations tighten return-to-office expectations, clarity and compassion matter more than ever.

Clearly defining flexible work options, offering transparent guidelines, and reinforcing them through manager training can make a meaningful difference. When managers proactively invite conversations about caregiving needs, employees feel safer being honest about their schedules. 

Normalizing camera-off moments, mid‑day appointments, or brief schedule shifts helps caregivers stay present without sacrificing performance. Allowing caregivers to block time for essential responsibilities creates structure. It reduces stress, making flexibility one of the most powerful retention tools available, especially for working parents and caregivers of aging adults. Flexibility is retention, especially for working parents and caregivers of aging adults.

2. Strengthen Paid Leave Policies With Caregiving in Mind

The study found that 3 in 5 workers say paid leave significantly impacts their employment decisions. Many policies still prioritize parental leave while overlooking other urgent caregiving scenarios: eldercare, complex illness, disability support, and long-term recovery.

Expanding leave language to include eldercare and long-term care explicitly helps remove ambiguity and ensures caregivers know their situation qualifies for support. Streamlining approval processes also prevents employees from feeling penalized or judged for needing time away. Sharing real examples of how workers have used leave, with their permission, can demystify the policy and make it feel more accessible. Offering partial or intermittent leave gives caregivers realistic options for recurring medical appointments, treatments, or ongoing support needs.

3. Support Both Child Care and Adult Care Needs

Guardian’s findings show that employees are often caring for people at both ends of the lifespan.Because the care workforce is strained, families are absorbing more work, and employers need to meet both sides of the care equation.

Child care benefits, subsidies, and backup care can relieve pressure on working parents who are often stretched thin. At the same time, adult care navigation, referrals, and geriatric care support acknowledge the growing need for eldercare resources within the workforce. Even small stipends for accessibility improvements—such as ramps or safety equipment—can ease the financial burden. 

Partnering with care‑coordination platforms can help families stay organized across complex schedules and responsibilities, strengthening their ability to balance both work and care. Supporting only child care or only eldercare leaves major gaps. Families need both..

4. Build a Culture Where Caregiving Is Visible and Safe to Acknowledge

Data shows that many caregivers hide their responsibilities, often out of fear of judgment or impact on their role. A caregiver-ready culture requires leadership to normalize care needs. Launching or expanding a Caregiver ERG creates a safe community where employees can share resources and support each other. When leaders openly acknowledge caregiving challenges in meetings, updates, or internal communications, it signals that care responsibilities are understood and respected. 

Training managers to recognize burnout and connect employees to available resources further strengthens that support. Creating intentional space for honest conversations during one‑on‑ones helps normalize caregiving and keeps workers from feeling like they need to hide their personal responsibilities. When employees feel seen, they stay and stay engaged.

5. Measure Impact So Programs Improve Over Time

Guardian emphasizes the need for organizations to track how caregivers are experiencing work, not just what benefits they’re offered. Adding a caregiving question to your engagement survey can help uncover needs that would otherwise go unnoticed. 

Segmenting turnover, absenteeism, and promotion data by caregiver status gives organizations a clearer picture of where support gaps exist. Evaluating whether employees are actually using the benefits provided, and why or why not, helps refine offerings for greater impact. Adjusting policies annually ensures your support evolves with the workforce and remains responsive rather than reactive. Caregiver support is not a one-time initiative but an evolving workforce strategy.

A Practical First Step for This Quarter

If you’re unsure where to begin, start with a short, anonymous pulse survey. Ask employees:

• Are you currently caring for anyone?
• What kinds of flexibility or support would help you most?
• How comfortable do you feel discussing caregiving needs with your manager?

With that starting point, choose one to two commitments to focus on this quarter, whether that’s improving flexible work clarity, strengthening leave policies, or piloting new care-support tools.

Caregivers are holding families together while still showing up to work every day. As we head into the new year, organizations have a powerful opportunity to recognize that effort, support it thoughtfully, and build workplaces where caregivers feel safe, valued, and able to thrive.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it mean to be a caregiver-ready organization?

A caregiver-ready organization is one that intentionally designs policies, culture, and communication to support employees balancing work and care responsibilities.

Why should employers prioritize caregiver support?

Prioritizing caregiver support reduces turnover, boosts engagement, and helps employees stay productive while managing complex family responsibilities.

What’s one simple step companies can take right now?

Start with a short, anonymous pulse survey to understand employee caregiving needs and identify gaps in existing support.