The burdens of family planning and support are having a profound effect on workers and their employers. According to a new report, 92% of parents feel overwhelmed balancing family and work obligations. The stakes are high for their employers: Parental stress drives many workers to take extended leaves or to quit the workforce altogether.
The stress of having a family can begin before employees even have children. According to the latest State of Women’s & Family Health Benefits Report by Maven, 28% of employees pursuing fertility treatment have incurred debt to cover health care costs. Many (56%) said they weren’t clear on the costs before starting treatment, and 46% reported having received a surprise healthcare bill or paying more than expected for a treatment.
Recommended For You
Luckily, most employers are aware of the current problems with fertility treatment benefits. Ninety-three percent said they were concerned about the rising costs of fertility care. Further, 61% said they planned to increase access to preconception care, and 58% said they planned to enhance or add fertility support.
Employers are right to be proactive considering how much family building support can influence the retention of talent. According to the report, 69% of employees have taken, considered, or might take a new job for better reproductive and family benefits. Likewise, 69% of employers reported plans to increase family health benefits vendors in the next two to three years.
Perhaps too often, reproductive benefits have ignored men. Both male workers and their employers have taken notice. Eighty-four percent of surveyed male workers reported feeling that their reproductive health needs were unmet. What’s more, 83% said they didn’t know where to go for male-specific support. Seventy-one percent of employers agreed on the importance of benefits for men’s health, but 46% admitted that their current benefits offerings were average or poor. Luckily, it seems change is on the way: 53% of employers said they’d be expanding benefits for male midlife health, and 65% would be increasing coverage for male reproductive health counseling and wellness services.
Beyond better health care benefits, there are a number of things employers can do to support their employee’s family building goals. According to the report, organizations that were described as “supporting parents well”, were more likely (60%) to let employees with children change their hours. They were also more likely to allow employees with families to switch to hybrid roles (40%).
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
