Paid Care Leave Rising in Importance for Workers

As the scope and weight of caregiving responsibilities impact more generations, paid leave programs are growing in importance for workers.

According to a 2025 Prudential Benefits and Beyond study, “New Workforce Expectations: Why Leave Programs Need to Reflect Real Life,” paid time off to care for a loved one is the top desired caregiving benefit across all surveyed workforce demographics. However, only about half of polled employers (52%) currently offer paid caregiving leave.

“We found that one of the top reasons employers are hesitant to offer paid leave is fear that employees might abuse these programs,” said Meghan Pistritto, the vice president of disability, state paid leave and well-being product lead for Prudential Group Insurance. “However, the reality of employee behaviors doesn’t match this concern. In fact, [our report found] 29% of employees don’t take leave for four days or more, even when they need it.”

Pistritto continued, “This highlights the urgent need for leave policies that reflect the realities of employees’ lives — especially caregivers. As more people find themselves in the role of caregivers [for children, parents, grandparents and/or others], it’s no wonder paid time off is becoming one of the most desired benefits among men and women in all four generations [Baby Boomers, Generation X, millennials and Generation Z].”

For employers, this presents an opportunity to better meet their employees’ wants and requirements. “When benefits are aligned with a company’s values and the workforce’s needs, they become a powerful driver of culture, performance and long-term growth,” Pistritto said.

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Removing Barriers

The Prudential study found the paid leave programs most frequently offered by employers included:

• Parental (89%)
• Military (55%)
• Caregiving (52%)
• Pregnancy loss (51%)

When it came to caregiving duties, the study highlighted that many employees took time in the last three years to provide care for:

• Someone other than a child (41%)
• A child (33%)
• A child and someone else (21%)

However, some barriers may prevent workers from accessing the workplace policies they need to enrich their personal and professional lives. The greatest barriers for these employees, according to the Prudential study, are:

• Affordability (37%) Pistritto explained since not all leaves are fully paid, employees often worry about the financial impact of taking time off with reduced or no pay.
• Fear of the stigma that their employer will think poorly of them (33%)
• Worries that it may affect their career advancement (26%)
• Not wanting to leave coworkers with the workload (26%)

“The barriers to meaningful paid leave are both systemic and cultural,” said Amy Beacom, the

founder and CEO of the Center for Parental Leave Leadership, a consulting and coaching company. She noted that while 13 states plus the District of Columbia have passed passing paid leave legislation, only 27% of workers have access to it.

Because of this, almost 25% of birthing parents are forced to go back to work within two weeks, Beacom said. “Even if a state does have paid leave, many employees still face inadequate benefits or can’t afford to take the full time they’re entitled to because state benefits often replace only a portion of wages,” she explained.

Jason Endriss, the leave solutions national practice leader at benefit services provider Alight Solutions, also noted that employees may face structural barriers when requesting paid leave.

“Across industries, leaves of absence are often treated as simply a compliance requirement and not a true benefit of employment,” he said. “When leaves aren’t properly integrated as part of a holistic benefits package, it can lead to confusion. Information about leaves of absence can be hard to find, and employees can often receive conflicting or misleading information about taking time off.”

For those who don’t offer paid leave due to cost concerns, Pistritto said, “This is where alternatives like flexible work arrangements or partial leave options can be beneficial. These options can be more financially feasible for companies while still providing the essential support employees are seeking.”

Why Offer Paid Leave Programs?

According to Endriss, many employers are recognizing the importance of these paid leave programs because they can allow employees to take time off when they need it the most, often during difficult moments.

“These benefits can help make organizations the employer of choice [in times] when attracting and retaining employees are critically important,” he said.

Beacom said more employees, particularly millennials and those in Gen Z, are making career decisions based on family-friendly benefits.

“I’ve lost count of the number of people we’ve heard choose one job over another based on their leave benefits,” she said. “If you aren’t leading with and including recruitment marketing and conversations with your paid leave offerings, you are missing out on a chance to show applicants what they are looking for.”

By signaling your organization’s values, Beacom said the ripple effects can be significant, stating that when employees feel supported during vulnerable transitions, metrics for engagement, loyalty and even productivity, health and wellness may increase.

Additionally, the potential cost savings could be significant. According to a Voya Financial report, the cost of caregiving to businesses — including higher health benefits costs, lost productivity and legal liabilities — exceeds $50 billion annually, or an estimated $3,200 per employee. Furthermore, the replacement cost of a typical employee can be 150% or more of their annual salary. In other words, it could cost $150,000 to replace a worker with an annual salary of $100,000.

“From a pure cost perspective, making robust paid leave policies is a sound investment with measurable returns,” Beacom said.

Reducing the Stigma

Beacom said competitive paid leave benefits require more than just time and money — they need infrastructure.

“I’m seeing companies supplement state-mandated benefits to reach full salary replacement, but the real innovation is in the support systems,” she said. “Some organizations are implementing ‘leave buddies’ — peer mentors who guide employees through the entire process.”

The Center for Parental Leave Leadership advised organizations to create graduated leave and return policies where employees can phase out their leave and then return to full-time work over a period of several weeks.

As the demographics and preferences of the workforce continue to shift, Endriss said his company is seeing more organizations expand the reasons why employees can take paid leave, with an increased focus on employees who are caregivers, whether it’s to care for a newborn baby or an elderly family member.

“Similarly, we have seen [more employers offer] bereavement leave as well as extend paid leave benefits for pregnancy loss since these are periods where an employee is out for a longer time [to address stress, depression or other mental health conditions],” he said.

Endriss also noted taking leave is a benefit employees are very likely to use at least once in their career.

“Knowing this fact may ease the guilt and shame of taking a leave of absence,” he said. “Leaders can also play a huge role in reducing the stigma of taking leave ... when [they] take time off themselves and openly discuss these leave policies as benefits.”

Editor’s Note: Additional Content

For more information and resources related to this article, see the pages below, which offer quick access to all WorldatWork content on these topics:

• Employee Benefits
• Employee Experience
• Well-Being