Some facts about how eldercare is playing out in the workplace:
1. Numbers
Estimates say there are more than 44 million people caring for elderly relatives
2. Absenteeism and productivity
These people lose more than 6 workdays each year; annual productivity losses are estimated at more than $25 billion.
3. Which employees are sandwiched
All of your most valuable players are affected; Millennials and Gen X are squeezed between young children and parents; Boomers are pressed between parents' medical expenses and children's college tuition bills.
4. Effect on wellness
Caregivers, according to a report by Health Advocate, "have higher levels of depression, heart disease, blood pressure and immune function."
5. Effect on financial wellness
Expenses for two generations are sinking retirement planning and financial security - a substantial known drag on productivity.
6. Distance
AARP says the average adult child lives hundreds of miles from a parent, meaning a care commitment exacts a day absence from the office...or more. Equally significant, "Those with college and professional degrees," wrote the New York Times, "are much more likely to live farther from their parents, in part because they have more job opportunities in big cities."
7. Unpredictability
Unlike parenting, "There are no 'ages and stages' guides because there is no predictable timeline," wrote one caregiver on a Boston public radio website. "That means you don't know when your eldercare responsibilities might interrupt your work."
8. Trajectory
Also unlike parenting, the intensity of elder care will grow over time, increasing in an arc that mirrors a valuable employee's career trajectory.
Navigating Eldercare in the Workplace; Returning Billions to Bottom Lines
Many workplaces are trying to catch up - and for good reason. Gallup says increasing elder care support could return billions to bottom lines.And the issue promises to grow more urgent as Millennials find themselves in the hotseat between parents and young families.
"It's an emerging issue that we're going to have to grapple with," AARP policy adviser Lynn Friss Feinberg told the Washington Post, "all these young people who are potentially caring for a parent or a grandparent and how they're going to manage all these responsibilities at the same time that they're trying to go to school or hold down a paying job."
