(Third in the 3-part series)
Policymakers are finally listening to messaging to support families and caregivers. Companies of all sizes can also make their voices heard.
It is time to REBALANCE the healthcare-to-home strategy. Redeploying our national workforce as in-home healthcare workers creates dire, predictable economic, wellness, employment, productivity, family, equity, and community consequences.
Family Caregiving is a Global Workforce Crisis.
Organizations in every corner of the globe face the same issues as family caregivers are distracted, absent, and driven from the workforce to care for aging relatives. Especially in America, as baby boomers live longer and prefer to stay independent, employed relatives are under immense strain.
Organizations aware of today’s workforce instability often underestimate the impact of aging Baby Boomers.
These are some of the critical facts that demonstrate the need for bold change in the way we work and support families. Current statistics show:
- 73 percent had to leave work early or unexpectedly.
- 68 percent did not take on additional responsibilities or projects.
- 60 percent felt the quality or timeliness of their work suffered.
- 59 percent had to take two or more days off in a row from work.
- 52 percent lost income because they had to miss work.
Voter Support
- 89% of Democrats and 72% of Republicans support expanding services to help seniors live at home instead of a nursing home. ~Impact Research, AARP 2023
- Black voters, women, Democrats, and Latinos agree support for caregivers are key issues. 77% of women, 82% of Black voters, 71% of Latinos and 77% of Democrats say expanding services to help seniors live independently is extremely important. ~Impact Research, AARP, 2023
- Anxiety over caregiving is not limited to those currently providing care—more than two-thirds of voters express concerns about whether they will be able to get the care they need as they grow older or live independently. ~Impact Research, AARP, 2023
“We’ve seen this problem coming for decades. The baby boomers did not just arrive on the scene. My advice to C-Suite executives across the country and around the world is – DO SOMETHING! ~Jeannette Galvanek, Founder and CEO, CareWise Solutions
The Family and Medical Leave Act, passed about 30 years ago, entitled employees to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for caregiving needs — but 40% of American workers aren’t covered by it, and 74% of women don’t think they can afford it.
Partnership with the public sector is a major component of addressing the potential GDP loss.
As influential as businesses are in moving the needle on the care crisis, this issue is too large for one sector to tackle alone.
For leaders in the US to demonstrate resiliency in all facets of their respective businesses, it is imperative that they redirect funding toward a more caregiver-centric employee experience. The risks to the care economy are too great to ignore. Address today’s pain points of every employee’s collision with the work and aging family caregiving crisis. Build the equitable capacity in your organization to expand your business, offering good health, great working relationships, and rewarding careers for everyone.
Forerunner Ventures explains, “Ultimately, investing in caregiving isn’t just a social issue — it’s an economic one. The US could lose roughly $290B in GDP each year starting in 2030 because of this growing caregiving crisis, both from growing care worker shortages and the resulting outflow of talent from the workforce taking on caregiving roles.”
Caregiver demands are now so abundant the Washington Post reports it’s the number two reason (after retirement) why someone exits the workforce.
The primary focus of everyone in our nation should be pride in the legacy that our aging generation can age at home as long as possible, be treated with dignity and respect, avoid feeling that they are a burden on their families, and receive the resources they deserve.
It is time to ACT!”
Jeannette Galvanek, Founder and CEO, CareWise Solutions
Next Steps
Here are the recommended next steps based on the feedback from executives received by the CareWise Solutions™ team.
- 1-hour Leadership Consultation with Jeannette Galvanek – Discuss your goals to make a difference in your business with innovation and a leading-edge brand.
- Bring together the senior team and discuss an alternate perspective.
- Engage people across the business – listen and learn from everyone. Invite Employee Resource Groups and frontline workers to contribute. Consider surveying your team to collect data on the extent of the problem in your organization.
- Initiate an employee communications effort from the executive team and appoint all team leaders as wellness, work, and care advocates.
- Invest in the Caring Place HUB as an employee benefit.
- Add a health, work, and care education program to your employee development efforts.
- Attend a Building the 3rd Wave of Care Education Forum. MORE INFORMATION
For many, it begins with a 30-minute call. A call, they hang up thinking, “I never thought about it like that.”
If you’re ready for new perspectives on the workforce crisis fueled by the caregiving crisis, start with a FREE introductory conversation with Jeannette.
BOOK A TIME HERE
CareWise Solutions-org is a non-profit educational organization. Our focus is to activate a generational shift in line with the Baby Boomer Generation’s aging, life, and care expectations.
Your $500 tax-deductible donation funds research and product development to support employers and employed caregivers. You receive a PDF copy of the eBook Building the 3rd Wave of Care – an in-depth analysis of issues and associated challenges of chronic, evolutionary caregiving change.
If you missed the first in this 3-part series – A Unique Perspective for Employers on the Caregiving Crisis – If It Doesn’t Exist, How Can It be “Broken?” you can read it HERE.
If you missed the second in this 3-part series – A Unique Perspective for Employers on the Caregiving Crisis – It Doesn’t Exist! We Need to Build It! you can read it HERE.
