Study co-sponsored by Homethrive finds workers fear losing jobs without more support
NORTHBROOK, Ill., Sept. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Nearly 70% of unpaid family caregivers fear they’ll have to leave their jobs without support from hired in-home help, while nearly half said they would benefit from help with coordinating care for a loved one, according to a survey released this week.
Homethrive, Home Instead, and Certification in Long-Term Care (CLTC) co-sponsored the “Following The Journey of Family Caregivers” study. It examined the struggles of working caregivers in the United States.
Renowned researcher Eileen J. Tell, CEO of ET Consulting, LLC presented the study this week at the CLTC Leadership Summit in Minneapolis.
Among the survey’s other key findings:
- 62% of working unpaid family caregivers are women.
- 33% said it was very important to hire paid home care because they’re burned out.
- 26% said they needed help because they had trouble juggling working while caregiving.
- Only 6% said they found paid help via an employer-provided caregiving benefit.
“I think it’s crucial that employers understand how important it is for family caregivers to feel like they don’t have to choose between their jobs and the roles of family caregiver,” said Tell. “I’d like to see more services and support offered through employers so that working caregivers can get the help they need for the role they have.”
The study comes at a time when caregiving workers are stretched thin. A recent report by the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers found one in three employees will leave a career because they’re unable to handle the snowball effect that comes with family caregiving responsibilities, and that employers must do more to support their caregiving employees.
“The survey results underscore the importance of employers stepping up to support an ever-growing portion of their populations: employees doubling as unpaid caregivers,” said Homethrive Co-founder and Co-CEO, Dave Jacobs. “Yet, despite these statistics, nearly 80% of employers still aren’t offering a caregiving benefit. The time to act is now.”
Recently, 84% of employee caregivers said they’d be interested in their employer offering a benefit that provided them with resources, guidance, or caregiving support.
About the “Following The Journey of Family Caregivers” Study: Homethrive, in partnership with Home Instead and CLTC, commissioned the study to gain insights into the decision-making process associated with hiring professional home care—why family caregivers chose that path, why they did not, and what drives those decisions.
The on-line survey questioned 200 family caregivers, 18 and older, who relied on paid in-home care and 200 who did not.
About Homethrive
Homethrive is the next generation caregiving benefit innovator that’s revolutionizing support for unpaid family caregivers and their loved ones. Through its high-impact family caregiving platform, Dari, Homethrive breaks the caregiving support mold by skillfully blending self-service digital caregiving and health support with expert human interaction to effectively and efficiently right-size care to large populations. Members have 24/7 access to one-of-a-kind resources tackling subjects such as Medicare, Alzheimer’s, long-term care, family care and dynamics, self-care, special needs support, and more. Members needing more one-on-one support are paired with a credentialed caregiving and aging expert, called a Care Guide, who stands side-by-side with them (virtually) to provide concierge-level guidance, advice, and care coordination tailored to their needs.
Homethrive is proven to: support talent strategies with 80% reduction in voluntary turnover and 100% of employees feeling more supported by their employer; increase productivity and presenteeism by saving members an average of 16.4 work hours per month; improve employee well-being with 96% of employees reporting significant reduction in stress; reduce the need for high-cost senior living facility care from 75% to 10%; and lower claims cost by 24% versus control group.
Media Contact
Mike Petchenik, Homethrive, 1 404-345-1358, [email protected]
SOURCE Homethrive
