Care.com Report Reveals Workplace Common Ground

Care Benefits

Over the last few years, the radical shift in how we work has also changed expectations between employers and employees. However, Care.com’s 2024 Future of Benefits Report, released today, reveals that there is common ground to be found in this battle: care benefits. From productivity, to workplace dynamics, to generational harmony, the research clearly shows that care benefits enable both sides to get what they want.

Employers invest in benefits that drive productivity and help recruit and retain talent, and the majority of employer respondents report that child care and senior care benefits deliver on those goals. For employees, care support is essential to perform one’s job and employee respondents across generations report they have caregiving responsibilities. As a result, 56% of the employer respondents are prioritizing child care benefits in 2024 (up 10% since 2023), and 50% are focusing on senior care benefits (up 7% since 2023). Equally compelling are the findings that care support is one thing all four generations in the workforce agree upon and one benefit that fosters successful work places whether in office, hybrid or fully remote.

“Our research makes one thing clear: when care support exists, workers and workplaces are more productive,” said Brad Wilson, CEO of Care.com. “Care benefits are the common ground across generations and work locations, and an example of something that serves employers and employees in equal measure.”

Highlights from the 2024 Future of Benefits Report, which surveyed 620 C-suite level executives and HR decision-makers and 1,000 benefits-eligible employees, include:

Caregiving is the Common Language Across Generations: Employee respondents across all four generations in the workforce (Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers) reported they have caregiving responsibilities for either children, grandchildren, pets, or seniors, and 1 in 5 (20%) said they have previously left a job because their employer lacked family care benefits. And the demand for benefits defied generational stereotypes. The percentage of employee respondents caring for seniors was nearly uniform across generations and 21% of employee respondents said that they’d switch jobs in order to obtain senior care benefits.