The pandemic caused caring responsibilities to skyrocket around the world, shifting responsibility to younger generations with 60% of new caregivers either Gen Z or Millennials. 

The new face of caring is young, progressive, and demanding that employers better conform to their expectations of a just and equitable workplace. But they also fear retribution with  half of 18 to 34-year-old caregivers worldwide saying it has  negatively impacted their long-term career goals (52%). This pressure is felt keenly in China, where ‘Care for the Elderly’ ranked #1 out of 50 issues in our Causes that Count report, and in the UK where the issue ranked 4th and 5 million carers across the country are unpaid. 

Whilst we still have a way to go to see the normalisation of carer’s rights some businesses are leading the way:  

Virgin Media O2 has launched 5 days of paid carers leave, which can be taken as 10 half days. 

Top management consulting firms including Bain in the UK and Deloitte in Denmark have fully equalised paid parental leave that does not distinguish between primary and secondary carers.

Bank of Ireland, across their 9,000 employees in the UK, Ireland & U.S. now offer 5 days of paid foster care leave as well 26 weeks of paid surrogacy leave on par with their adoption leave. 

Bumble the dating app has added 12 weeks of leave per year for employees to care of their family members and caregivers. 

Families come in all shapes and sizes and are created under a variety of circumstances. To retain a happy workforce, create an environment where carers feel supported. To get started, look to the future tradeoffs that carers will face and build policies in partnership with them, anchoring the process and outputs in your purpose.