Why Every Business Needs an Eldercare Policy
For decades, businesses have rightfully focused on supporting working parents. Childcare subsidies, parental leave, flexible working — these benefits have become fundamental to any serious talent strategy. But a new caregiving frontier is emerging, and too few organisations are prepared: eldercare. With ageing populations, fragmented care systems, and rising long-term care costs in countries like the United States and Ireland, companies must urgently respond.
In the United States, more working adults now provide care for ageing family members than for preschool-aged children — 23 million compared to 21 million [1]. Similar demographic shifts are occurring across the developed world. By 2050, Americans aged 85 and over — those most likely to require intensive support — will more than double in number, increasing by 150% to 17 million [2]. Yet “health spans,” the number of years people live without major disability, are not keeping pace with longer lifespans. The result: a growing pool of working-age adults facing intense, prolonged caregiving demands.
The implications for employers are profound. Eldercare responsibilities — like managing medications, coordinating with medical providers, and helping with daily tasks such as bathing, cooking, or transportation — often resemble a part-time job layered on top of full-time employment. According to an AARP and S&P Global survey, half of all working caregivers have made changes to their work schedules because of these demands. A third have taken leave. One in six has turned down a promotion, and another one in six has left the workforce entirely [3].
The Problem
The cost to companies is significant. The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association estimates that family caregiving results in $264 billion annually in lost productivity, absenteeism, and health-related impacts in the US alone [4]. And this burden doesn’t fall equally. Women shoulder the lion’s share of eldercare, making up 59% of unpaid caregivers. For mid-career women, the consequences are severe. New research from Brown University found that women aged 50–60 who began caring for ageing parents experienced an average 4.2% drop in hourly wages, compared to a 2.7% increase for their non-caregiving peers [5]. The penalty was more than double — 9.5% — for those providing high-intensity care. Crucially, these women did not reduce their working hours. They remained in the workforce but became invisible to promotion and pay advancement cycles [6].
The so-called “daughterhood penalty” is now compounding the already well-documented “motherhood penalty.” And for those who are part of the “sandwich generation” — caring for both children and elderly relatives — the risk of burnout is acute. Caregivers are more likely to suffer from depression, chronic stress, and physical illness than their non-caregiving peers, with negative repercussions for their work performance, morale, and engagement [7].
Ireland
The Irish system tells a similar story. In hospitals across Ireland, hundreds of elderly patients remain in beds not because they are too sick to leave, but because there is nowhere for them to go. Their families often cannot or will not take them home, not out of selfishness, but because the infrastructure for home-based eldercare is insufficient. Under the Fair Deal scheme, financial support is available for nursing homes but not for in-home care. This forces families to choose between institutionalising their loved ones or trying to “wing it” with insufficient public support [8].
This status quo is not sustainable. It’s neither humane nor economically sound. Businesses have a clear incentive — and responsibility — to address the eldercare gap in the same way they stepped up for childcare decades ago.
What Businesses are Doing
Some leading organisations are already doing so. Bank of America, for instance, provides backup eldercare for up to 50 days per year, access to care managers who assess needs, and mental health support through counselling services. Its global Parent and Caregiver Network gives employees a space to share experiences and find community. The key, according to Anne Oxrider, the company’s senior vice president for benefits, is “getting the right support to teammates at the right times in their lives” and making benefits “very easy to understand and access” [9].
AbbVie, the biopharmaceutical company, has built a comprehensive suite of benefits that includes support for navigating elder healthcare and legal matters, concierge services, flexible leave policies, and a dedicated employee resource group for caregivers. “When their family’s needs are met,” said vice president Demetris Crum, “employees can perform at their best” [10].
Microsoft has expanded its eldercare support substantially, offering tailored resources for those navigating dementia care, a support group for caregivers, and access to expert advocates for complex medical situations. The message is consistent: eldercare support boosts productivity, enhances retention, and reduces burnout.
What Businesses are Not Doing
But the gap between companies doing this well and the rest of the field is vast. Only 25% of US employers offer paid family leave for eldercare. Just 19% provide subsidised care services [11]. This underinvestment is partly driven by a cultural blind spot. Many employees don’t self-identify as “caregivers.” They see themselves as dutiful sons or daughters, quietly adjusting their lives while trying not to rock the boat. Their needs accumulate gradually, and employers frequently underestimate the number of staff affected [12].
The policy response in Ireland has likewise been fragmented. The Fair Deal scheme is helpful in certain contexts but fails to meet the growing desire for people to “age in place.” Families want — and need — home care packages that actually reflect real needs: daily support, transportation, and mental health services for caregivers. As Brendan Courtney’s documentary We Need to Talk About Dad made plain, the current system makes it extremely difficult to keep loved ones at home without significant financial and emotional strain [13].
In both the US and Ireland, public systems are overstretched and incoherent. In America, Medicaid remains the largest single payer of long-term care, but only after families have exhausted their assets. Nursing homes cost over $100,000 a year, and home care agencies charge roughly $27 an hour, quickly adding up to tens of thousands annually [14]. Only after financial depletion can families access support, often leaving spouses with as little as $50 per month to live on [15]. Efforts to reform long-term care funding have failed repeatedly in Congress, leaving middle-class families in a precarious position. “You basically want people to destitute themselves and then you take everything else that they have,” one woman said after navigating Medicaid’s labyrinthine rules on behalf of her mother [16].
What Can Business Leaders Do?
First, business leaders must recognise that eldercare is now a widespread and pressing reality for their workforce. According to Bright Horizons, 92% of working caregivers wish they had more support, citing needs such as flexible schedules, financial assistance, reliable care referrals, and mental health resources [17]. Just as support for working parents has become a standard feature of responsible employment practice, companies must now extend similar consideration to those supporting ageing relatives.
But introducing benefits alone is not enough. Companies must ensure that employees know what is available, feel safe using those benefits, and can access them easily. This means communicating clearly, training managers to respond with empathy and flexibility, and embedding caregiving into the culture of the workplace through inclusive policies and supportive peer communities.
A well-structured eldercare policy should reflect the diverse realities employees face. This may include paid or unpaid leave dedicated to caregiving, flexible hours, and remote work options that allow employees to manage care without jeopardising their professional responsibilities. Employers can also provide concierge-style services to help employees find and coordinate appropriate care, whether in-home support, assisted living arrangements, or specialist services.
Mental health support is essential. Employee assistance programmes (EAPs) should offer counselling and wellbeing resources that acknowledge the emotional strain caregiving can bring. Peer-led caregiver networks can further reduce isolation and create space for shared experience and solidarity within the organisation.
Critically, managers and HR professionals need training to recognise the pressures caregivers face and to respond constructively. When leaders understand the challenges and offer meaningful accommodations, they help reduce stigma and ensure that policies translate into real support.
Finally, leadership must set the tone. Executives who have experienced caregiving themselves should speak openly, champion the cause, and participate in building a culture where eldercare is treated not as a private burden, but as a collective responsibility. Cultural transformation begins at the top, but its success depends on everyday practices that make empathy and flexibility part of the organisational norm.
Why Every Business Needs an Eldercare Policy
The costs of inaction on eldercare are too high. Burnout, attrition, lost productivity, stalled careers — these are not abstract risks but real consequences already playing out across every sector. The organisations that understand this will be better positioned to attract, retain, and support the talent they need to thrive in an ageing world. The “silver tsunami” is not coming. It is already here. And the best companies will be the ones that learn how to surf.
Sources
[1] https://hbr.org/2025/07/your-company-needs-an-eldercare-policy
[2] https://hbr.org/2025/07/your-company-needs-an-eldercare-policy
[3] https://hbr.org/2025/07/your-company-needs-an-eldercare-policy
[4] https://hbr.org/2025/07/your-company-needs-an-eldercare-policy
[7] https://hbr.org/2025/07/your-company-needs-an-eldercare-policy
[8] https://www.businesspost.ie/more-life-arts/elder-care-in-ireland-an-age-old-question/
[9] https://hbr.org/2025/07/your-company-needs-an-eldercare-policy
[10] https://hbr.org/2025/07/your-company-needs-an-eldercare-policy
[11] https://hbr.org/2025/07/your-company-needs-an-eldercare-policy
[12] https://hbr.org/2025/07/your-company-needs-an-eldercare-policy
[13] https://www.businesspost.ie/more-life-arts/elder-care-in-ireland-an-age-old-question/
[14] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/14/health/long-term-care-facilities-costs.html
[15] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/14/health/long-term-care-facilities-costs.html
[16] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/14/health/long-term-care-facilities-costs.html
[17] https://hbr.org/2025/07/your-company-needs-an-eldercare-policy
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