Kamala Harris has recently brought the issue of family caregiving into the national spotlight, by endorsing paid leave for caregivers of children and aging adults. Estimates vary in terms of the percentage of the US workforce who have caring responsibilities, but a recent report from AARP put the number of people caring for family members at 48 million with 61% of this number being employed while caregiving.

Clearly, this is a significant portion of the nation's workforce. What's more, demographic changes of an aging population is going to mean a greater number of retirees versus workers in the decades to come, with some forecasts estimating that the senior population might reach 80 million by 2040. This will only increase the portion of the workforce that have familial caring responsibilities.

There is also a growing body of research that demonstrates the business case for offering such benefits. For example, a recent study by MetLife showed that employees are 1.5x more likely to feel happy, 1.2x more likely to be productive and 1.3x more likely to be loyal at work when they have a benefits package that supports their needs. And when faced with seemingly permacrisis in people management–from the great resignation to quiet-quitting–employers who can best suit the needs of their employees stand the best chance of recruiting, retaining and motivating the best talent.