Seventy percent of American workers have caregiving duties at home that take an exhausting physical, mental, and financial toll, according to new research. Yet very few companies offer policies or benefits that support those employees and address burnout.
Experts say if that doesn’t change, many top firms will find their knowledge workers walking out the door in search of smaller operations willing to accommodate their needs.
“The U.S. caregiving policy is in the hands of employers, and if they want to have a workforce that’s ready and not stressed out, they are going to have to lead on innovative practices,” said Ellen Ernst Kossek, a distinguished professor of management at Purdue University’s Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. School of Business.
Kossek spoke about the caregiver dilemma with Wharton management professor Stephanie Creary during an episode of Creary’s podcast series, Leading Diversity at Work. They were joined by Jennifer Andrews, who serves as head of equity and inclusion at Guardian. (Listen to the podcast.)
Why Caregiver Burnout Is a Growing Problem
Andrews shared insights from Guardian’s recent survey-based report, “Standing Up and Stepping In: A Modern Look at Caregivers in the U.S.,” which found an increasing number of people splitting their time between work and caring for others — whether a child, spouse, parent, grandparent, or someone with special needs.
Caregiving employees reported higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression than their non-caregiving peers. They also struggled with the stigma of caregiving and worried about how it will limit their career growth.
“The U.S. caregiving policy is in the hands of employers.”— Ellen Ernst Kossek
Andrews said most employers “can’t even fathom” the sheer number of caregivers in the workforce. With that cohort expected to grow, enhancing more inclusive offerings and resources should be a strategic priority for any organization, she said.
“Listening to our colleagues, understanding their needs, and providing them the right support is key,” she said. “This is why people join, stay, or, unfortunately, leave an organization within the workforce more broadly.”
Work-life Balance for Women in STEMM
Kossek is an internationally recognized scholar who has published numerous studies on work-life balance, including a 2021 paper that looked at how the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted work-life boundaries for women in STEMM (a newer acronym that includes science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine).
She said the pandemic revealed caregiving demands that were previously invisible to employers. Many women in STEMM found themselves in “masculine cultures” that did not support care, or could not find outside care to help alleviate the burden, resulting in many carrying out dual job and care demands that put them at high risk for burnout.
Kossek also served on a National Academies of Sciences committee that released a 2024 report calling for more action to support family caregivers working in STEMM. The report noted that half of STEMM degrees are being earned by women, who bear the disproportionate load of caregiving. Kossek warned that if policies don’t change, the existing shortage of STEMM workers will get worse.
“Support of the STEMM workforce and caregivers is a strategic labor force investment and an issue of equity,” she said. “In the U.S. in particular, but around the globe as well, this is not seen as a priority.”
“Listening to our colleagues, understanding their needs, and providing them the right support is key.”— Jennifer Andrews
Creating a Culture That Prevents Caregiver Burnout
Kossek and Andrews offered several recommendations to help organizations improve work-life balance and prevent caregiver burnout:
- Embrace hybrid work for the flexibility it offers caregivers, but set boundaries so that work-from-home employees can truly disconnect.
- Create a dedicated Employee Resource Group (ERG) for caregivers to develop solutions to support people at different stages of their lives.
- Adopt a concierge service to help caregiving employees find needed resources, such as nursing care for an elderly parent.
- Allow employees to donate banked leave to a coworker in a caregiving crisis, or offer paid leave. If that’s not possible, job sharing is another option.
- Integrate work-life balance into the culture by training managers to be more supportive of non-work needs, and by creating a path to the C-suite that allows caregiving leaders to step away if necessary.
- Make policies unambiguous and easy for employees to access online, so they understand how to use their benefits.
- Leaders need to actively communicate the importance of employees using available paid family and sick leave policies when needed and without fear of career stigma or job loss.
Kossek said interventions should also extend to frontline workers, not just those in offices. Many retailers, for example, do not allow their employees to access their cell phones during work hours. For caregivers, that means spending an entire shift worried about their spouse, child, or parent at home.
Andrews said it’s imperative for companies to examine caregiving from an inclusive lens if they want to effect change.
“Remember that the caregiving population in their organization is most likely much larger than they assume, and it’s not solely a women’s issue,” she said. “We know that 70% of the workforce is not women, so this is impacting men as well. And this situation is only going to continue to grow.”
Disclaimer: Please note that the recommendations above do not necessarily reflect Guardian’s current offerings, policies, and benefits.
