Greer sits at her desk staring at the financial report that is due this afternoon. She had been up all night looking after her mom. It was the third night in a row that her mom had paced all through the night. What was she going to do? How can she keep taking care of her mom and continue to run her company?
This scenario is all too common, as the aging parents of the Boomer generation have exceeded life expectancies. That’s good news, of course, but it comes at a price. There are nearly 50 million caregivers in our society, and approximately 60 percent of them hold down jobs. Unmanaged eldercare – employees juggling work with the care of an aging parent or loved one – cost companies an equivalent to 15 percent of their salary budget for the entire year.
How many caregivers work for your company? How many caregivers do you work with? Are you a caregiver yourself? Many companies think they don’t have caregivers, but few are exempt.
The reason for their misconception is that people often don’t think of themselves as caregivers because they don’t live with their aging loved one. They are just sons or daughters who are helping with lawn chores or transportation or paying bills. Also, most caregivers don’t talk about their eldercare problems at work, so managers and supervisors are unaware of the situation.
Eldercare is known as the silent productivity killer.
Measurable cost
It is costing American companies between $11 billion and $29 billion per year, according to a 2001 study by the Metlife Insurance company.
That’s because caregivers:
· Are absent more often.
· Come in late and leave early.
· Are distracted at work and use work time to find services.
· Impact the efficiency, productivity and morale of co-workers.
· Use more benefits such as health insurance and Family and Medical Leave Act provisions.
American Demographics reported in 1996 that burned-out caregivers are significant contributors to rising healthcare costs. They’re responsible for 19 percent of companies’ total healthcare costs. That’s because caregivers become stressed and rundown, and they’re more likely to neglect their own health.
Problem worsening
Demographics tell us that this problem is emerging as an enormous issue right now. The time to be proactive is almost past and companies will be in the reactive stage of trying to figure out what is going on and what to do about it.
Working Mother magazine recently reported that 98 percent of its 100 Best Companies to work for offer elder-care referral services, compared with a Society of Human Resource Management survey that found 21 percent of companies nationwide offer elder-care services. Elder care actually outpaced childcare referral services as the more common perk among the Best Companies, with childcare services available in 94 percent of them.
The flip has occurred. Elder care has upended childcare as the more necessary benefit for the start of the 21st century.
Where does that leave companies? They need valued employees to be engaged at work, yet caregivers, from the boardroom to the front line, have a very hard job. They cannot always juggle work and elder-care responsibilities by themselves.
When employers recognize this and support caregiving issues, workplace stress falls and productivity rises. Companies should consider investing in elder-care programs as a way to retain valuable employees. An elder-care initiative is a definite win for all.
Patricia Faust, MGS, LNHA
Executive Vice President, Eldercare Education Consultants, LLC
513-731-5400
pcfaust@eldercareeducation.com
This article was first published in Women’s Business Cincinnati.
www.womensbusinesscincinnati.com
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