Look around your organization. How many of your employees are family caregivers? Probably than you know. A new survey suggests some startling statistics about how these workers are doing emotionally and mentally:
- 64% of respondents say that they have felt depressed due to the stresses of caregiving. That number rose to 68% of workers between the ages of 18 and 34 and 72% for women over age 34 caring for parents.
- 70% of people call caregiving a “full-time job.” A similar number say they’ve missed work because of caregiving responsibilities, with 22% claiming to have missed more than 20 workdays in a year.
- One-third of respondents say they’ve changed their career or job to balance caregiving and work better. The top attraction for the new position, they say, is more flexibility in their work schedule.
- 86% of respondents say they feel appreciated by the family member they care for.
If you want to keep employees who are also family caregivers, there are a few steps you can take:
- Offer more flexible work arrangements and schedules. Consider efforts such as job sharing or shorter shifts/workdays.
- Offer community support groups to connect caregiving employees with partners that can help them solve their problems directly.
- Create your own partnerships to offer adult daycare or after school supports/programs or enable virtual care for family members.
