More than 63 million Americans provide care for an adult family member while maintaining regular paid jobs, according to AARP. As the U.S. population ages, employers are increasingly offering caregiving benefits to support workers managing the demands of elder care alongside their careers. The average caregiver spends about six hours a day caring for aging loved ones, and Meghan Shea, vice president at New York Life Group Benefit Solutions, notes that “the average caregiving role spans about six years. So really, it’s a life change for these employees, and they need to figure out how to balance responsibilities in a new way, and that’s very stressful.”
Federally, the Family and Medical Leave Act provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year to care for immediate family members at employers with 50 or more workers. However, this does not cover all workplaces, and many workers cannot afford unpaid leave. More than a dozen states now mandate some form of paid leave for caregiving, with details varying by state law. Many people are forced to quit their jobs to become primary caregivers, which affects not only their income and retirement benefits but also employer productivity.
Growing Employer Support
To meet growing demand, companies are offering various caregiving benefits beyond unpaid leave. Employers providing paid caregiving leave typically offer two to six weeks, with some providing as much as 12 weeks, according to Meghan Pistritto, vice president in Prudential Financial’s group insurance division. AARP offers eligible employees up to two weeks of paid time off per calendar year to care for family members or domestic partners with serious health conditions or those at least 50 years old needing help with meal preparation, appointments, and managing finances.
Beyond time off, employers are providing flexible scheduling, remote work options, access to counseling, backup care services, and caregiver support groups. Some employers offer “care concierges” who help employees find health care providers, understand state and federal benefits, and navigate systems such as Medicare. Debra Whitman, chief public policy officer at AARP, used such a service to obtain a list of caregivers in her father’s area when she needed to care for him after his hospital admission.
Technology Solutions
When time off is not feasible, electronic devices help caregivers monitor loved ones from work. Susan Hammond, who spends four to five hours daily caring for her mother with dementia while running War Legacies Project, installed cameras and motion detectors in her mother’s house. The devices alert her on her watch or phone if doors open, allowing her to monitor her mother during work hours and travel. When her mother experienced a health emergency while Hammond was away, monitoring software enabled Hammond to communicate with both her mother and emergency medical technicians.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.pilotonline.com/2026/02/23/be-well-working-well-caregiving/