The Caregiving Epidemic - Working Caregivers Cost Employers $2,441 per Year
Children are taking increasing responsibility for the care of their parents and other family members. Many of these children are your employees and many are torn between careers and duty to their parents. And since these issues spill over into all areas of life, they affect workplace productivity and effectiveness. If you think caregiving issues don't affect your employees or your business performance, think again, distracted employees result in costs to employers.
Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!
According to the MetLife Caregiving Cost Study, for working caregivers, replacing employees, absenteeism, workday interruptions, costs due to crises and costs due to paid or unpaid leave amount to $2,441 per employee per year. This need presents an opportunity for corporations to provide education and benefits to reduce this cost that will continue to increase as the population ages.
The Care Navigator Can Help By:
Increasing awareness of the complexity of caregiving
Providing support to working caregivers just starting out or who are in the thick of caring for parents or other family members by developing educational programs that can be implemented on site or through the internet
Supporting employee retention through caregiving education
Protecting families from unexpected costs that often result in bankruptcy or derailing retirement savings by combining employee education with long term care insurance and associated products
Discussing the importance of retirement planning to accommodate increased health care expenditures (Medicare doesn't pay for everything like many assume)
Women More Likely to Retire in Poverty
By Pamela D. Wilson, CSA, MS, BS/BA, CG, The Care Navigator
"Poverty in our country has a distinctly feminine face. The largest segment of our population is poor, elderly women." (Teresa Heinz Kerry) The average social security check in 2006 was slightly over $1,000 per month. Will an annual income of $12,000 support you in retirement?
Many older women rely solely on social security for retirement income. Many have taken ten or more years on average, away from the workforce to raise children or serve as family caregivers. This caregiving time away from the workforce results in having to start a career over or to enter the workforce for the first time. It can involve learning new skills or taking classes just to be offered an entry level position or working a part time position with no benefits. With this lack of earning power over 10-15 years, it's no wonder many women fall behind men in building a retirement nest egg.
Women are projected to live longer than men, yet earn only 77% of each dollar a man earns and work fewer years building a nest egg. Many of us believe we will continue to build our retirement income by working beyond the normal retirement age. However statistics show that four in ten people retire early due to poor health, caring for a family member or job loss. The poverty rate in 2004 for single white women age 65 and older was over 20%, the rate was double for African American and Hispanic women. Women must commit to changing these statistics.
When Was the Last Time You Visited a Nursing Home?
By Pamela D. Wilson, CSA, MS, BS/BA, CG, The Care Navigator
Many young people have never visited a nursing home. Yet our parents and grandparents have sickening visions of nursing homes that play in their minds especially when they think about getting older. The nursing environment has changed significantly from the memory our parents and grandparents hold, however the fear of being "put away" remains in their minds. My own mother made us promise never to put her in a nursing home - or she would come back and haunt us. Fortunately my mother passed away never having spent a single day in a nursing home.
The general population is not as fortunate. Few realize that there is no health care system to prevent individuals from ending up in a nursing home. Medicare does not pay for custodial care. Working children are shocked when the medical system does not provide the type of assistance needed when their older parents become ill. An unless you've personally experienced caregiving it's difficult to understand the stress, pressure and sleepless nights experienced by others worrying not only about their loved one but how they will ever financially survive.
By Pamela D. Wilson, CSA, MS, BS/BA, CG, The Care Navigator
Your parents are getting older, you see things slipping. The house is not as clean as it once was, your mother is increasingly forgetful, your father has lost weight, and you are concerned about their safety when they drive. So as a responsible child you bring up the subject. How do your parents react? They are angry. They feel like you're trying to tell them what to do. Yet you see that they need help now, not tomorrow. Unfortunately the help they want is you. The free time you want to spend with your spouse, your children and your friends. The money you had planned for a family vacation, your son's college education, and your own retirement.
Sometimes your mother complains about the burden of caring for your father. Other times she tells you everything is fine. You spend as much time helping as possible, however it's never enough. You talk to your parents about retaining outside help, they hedge and refuse. What do you do? What can you do? Become frustrated. Get angry. Treat them like they are acting like children. You're losing sleep. Projects at work are slipping. You are distracted and worried your supervisor will see that things aren't quite right.
Corporate Benefits & Programs
