Paid Leave for Caregivers Being Used to Attract Millennials
May 27, 2019
According to AARP Public Policy Institute, about 100 major U.S. firms have adopted or expanded paid family leave over the past three years, but only 20 percent made the it available to family caregivers.
That is likely to change, according to Candice Sherman, CEO of the Northeast Business Group on Health.
More than half of millennial caregivers are the sole provider for an elderly family member, providing an average of 26 hours of care each week.
“People are living longer, there are gaps in the health care system, employees are more dispersed geographically, so they are caregiving from afar. Large employers are aware,” she said.
The vast majority of employers surveyed by the Northeast Business Group on Health in 2017 agree that caregiving will become an increasingly important issue over the next five years, and nearly half cite caregiving as one of their top 10 priorities.