The Marshall Plan for Moms found that 45% of US mothers with children aged five or under who left the workforce during COVID-19 cited childcare as the major reason. 14% of fathers said the same thing – in total, 2,000 parents were surveyed.

The issue is that they do not have access to affordable, good quality or reliable childcare – 34% of women surveyed cited expense (and 20% of men did the same).

“If these parents do drop out, companies stand to lose functional expertise, institutional knowledge, managerial capabilities, and mentorship at a time when such skills are needed most”, wrote McKinsey partners and analysts.

But challenges around childcare are not the only causes of the caregiving crisis; employees across the world are also grappling with caring for adult family members.

For some, balancing full time work and caring for elderly and disabled relatives is causing them to burnout, while others are being forced to give up work to become full-time carers.

Research by care home company Lottie found that over the last year there has been a 75% increase in Google searches for ‘being a carer and working full time’ in the US and Europe.

In Europe, there was a 400% growth in Google searches for ‘giving up work to be a carer’ and 25% increase in the US for ‘trapped caring for an elderly parent’.

How to resolve the caregiving crisis

This is only the beginning of this problem. The elderly population is growing exponentially in Europe and the US. In 2034, the over 65s in the US will be outnumber the under 18s – there will be 77 million people aged 65 and over, compared to 76.5 million under 18s.

Whereas in Europe, the working age population (15 to 65) will fall from 333 million in 2016, to 292 million in 2070 – people aged 65 and over will represent 29% of the population (compared to 19% in 2016).

Ronan Harvey-Kelly, Seniorcare Lead at Lottie, noted: “Employees who are juggling the additional demands of caregiving are more likely to experience stress, absences from work and health problems.

“Businesses across the world urgently need a sustainable and dedicated solution to ensure that everyone can get the care and support they need in later life.”

But where should they start?

First, it is crucial that employers create a culture of psychological safety and encourage caregivers to disclose their responsibilities and their challenges. It is not a good sign that workers are turning to Google to ask questions about caregiving, rather than their employer.

To do this, leaders need to listen to the unique needs of all caregivers in the organization – the demands of looking after children could be very different to caring for elderly or disabled adult family members.

Openly discussing people’s personal responsibilities helps to build communities at work – now is the time to not just create employee resource groups for parents, but for other caregivers as well.

Lottie’s report noted: “Internal eldercare committees and groups are becoming increasingly common and effective in the workplace and can reduce any pressure employees are facing with their additional caregiver responsibilities.”

Another solution is to fully embrace flexible working. Caregiving responsibilities can be very distracting for employees, so they should be empowered to work when and where it suits them best.

“Flexible working is the business benefit at the top of almost every employee’s wish list, especially for those who are unpaid carers for elderly relatives,” noted Lottie’s report.

Next up on their wish list is practical support, including expert advice on housing for elderly relatives or on affordable outside help.

The time to act is now if you don’t want an attrition crisis of talented employees.