Care.com, a platform for finding and managing family care, has released the results of its 2021 Future of Benefits Report, revealing how COVID-19 has influenced how employers plan to change, and potentially expand, the benefits they offer to employees this year and in the future. Download the complete Care.com report.

The report gathered responses from C-suite executives and HR leaders across the country and examines how employers are prioritizing benefits like family care (for both children and seniors living at home) ahead of others, such as commuter benefits and office meals, because of the pandemic’s impact on how employees work as well as their well-being, performance, and attrition.

• 98% of employers say they plan to expand benefits in some form
• 82% of managers acknowledging that their organizations have become more aware of the care challenges their employees have been dealing with throughout the pandemic
• 64% have experienced high attrition rates, in which 95% report care concerns as a major factor
• 63% of employers plan to implement child care benefits in response 
• 50% say they believe that the positive impact of childcare benefits outweighs the costs
• 65% selected “flexibility” as the potential positive impact of care benefits, followed by improved employee mental health (59%) and increased productivity (53%)

Along with healthcare, dental coverage and paid time off, child care assistance is a high-value benefit in employee compensation packages. It’s a more recent innovation in HR benefits, previously either not considered or overlooked as an essential tool to find and keep the best talent.  That's no longer the case. 

Child care benefits help leaders create a better employee experience. There is a strong business case to be made for finding methods that support employees as parents–it demonstrates a commitment to bettering their lives outside of work. Programs like these pay dividends in the form of increased productivity, improved retention, and overall happiness.

Your company has a quantifiable stake in child care programs. Nationally, 62% of working parents struggle to find quality and affordable care for their children and two million of them quit their jobs because of it every year. Forty-five percent of them report missing work due to childcare issues. This results in missed work days, income, and productivity.

While the health and safety issues related to COVID-19 are unique, the need for reliable, high quality childcare for the 14 million parents with young children is nothing new.  However, the pandemic health crisis increased national awareness of how critical childcare is to every business and ultimately, the U.S. economy overall.