For many working parents, the school-age years are supposed to be easier.

Children are more independent. The early scramble to find infant care has passed. The assumption, often shared by employers, is that the heaviest lift is behind them.

In practice, the pressure rarely disappears. It shifts.

Roughly three-quarters of the current workforce are caregivers, for children, aging relatives, or even pets. As a result, family care benefits have shifted from “nice-to-have” perks to a core part of a competitive benefits strategy.  

Many modern family care programs continue to center on two critical chapters: early childhood and elder care. But between those chapters sits a large and often underrecognized segment of the workforce: the hidden middle.

The hidden middle

For parents in the hidden middle, their challenges build over time. Early school dismissals, gaps between camp schedules and workdays, unexpected closures, and the ongoing coordination required to keep everything running. It is less about finding care and more about stitching it together without disrupting the workday.

For HR leaders, the hidden middle isn’t a new need. For parents, caregiving becomes part of the day-to-day, showing up in smaller, less visible ways that still affect how work gets done.

That pattern is already shaping expectations. Sixty-five percent of working parents wish their employer played a bigger role in their “parenting village” by providing access to resources (e.g., an on-site care center, back-up services/options, etc.) to help them care for their children.

At the same time, the population itself is growing. With the percentage of American children aged 6-11 expected to outpace the percentage of children aged 0-5 in the next five years, this is a segment becoming more prominent without a corresponding shift in how most benefits strategies are designed.

The summer strain

The challenge of piecing together child care shows up most clearly during the summer.

What is normally a structured day becomes a rotating set of care arrangements. Camps that do not align with work schedules. Weeks without coverage. Care options that come at a significantly higher cost.

The financial impact is significant. The average family with two children can spend up to 20% of their summer income on child care. Just as impactful is the day-day strain:  Eighty-seven percent of working parents reported experiencing challenges with their children being home during the summer, including work interruptions, worrying about what the children are up to while they are working, and being distracted at work thinking about their children’s schedules.

Over time, this does not show up as a single disruption. It shows up as a pattern that affects consistency in how work gets done. Fragmented workdays, more unplanned time away, and increasing variability in engagement, productivity, and retention.

Supporting the hidden middle

For HR leaders, the hidden middle is less a new category of need and more a gap in how support carries across the employee lifecycle.

Nearly eight in ten working parents (79%) say they want their employer to help them navigate care for their children.

What differentiates organizations is how that support is operationalized within the broader benefits and workforce strategy, and whether it extends beyond early childhood into the school-age years in a way that is consistent and usable.

In many cases, the building blocks are already in place. It comes down to how those supports meet the moments that tend to create the most strain in the workday.

When care is predictable, the workday is easier to hold together. When it isn’t, small gaps become daily disruptions. 

That’s where the right support tends to have the most impact:

Summer camps

For many working parents, summer is when the juggling really starts. Coverage has to stretch across full days, week after week, often without the structure school provides. Summer camps offer consistent, full-day care during those months, reducing the need to piece together a new plan each week. They also give children a structured environment where they can stay active, engaged, and continue learning while school is out.

School break programs

Shorter breaks bring their own challenges. A few days here and there can be harder to plan for than the summer itself, especially when work schedules don’t change. School break programs provide reliable, short-term coverage during those gaps, offering structured care when school is closed, but work continues.

Back-up care

Even with a plan, things fall through. A child gets sick. School is closed. A caregiver cancels. These are the moments that are hardest to absorb in the middle of a workday. Back-up care gives parents an option when there isn’t time to figure something out. 

Tutoring/college prep

School-age children can experience the “summer slide”— a loss of academic progress when they’re out of structured learning for extended periods. Tutoring and academic support help address those gaps, while also supporting families as they navigate increasing expectations around high school and college readiness.

In most cases, supporting the hidden middle isn’t about building something new. It’s about making sure the support shows up consistently across the parts of the workday where employees feel the strain most.