It's Time Your Company Introduced an Eldercare Policy

The majority of working professionals in India also serve as caregivers, whether to children, sick partners, or parents/relatives who can no longer cope independently. Fortunately, employees with childcare duties typically receive adequate employer support (such as time off, flexible scheduling, on-site accommodations, etc.). However, far too few companies have policies and employee caregiving benefits to support those with the equally stressful responsibility of caring for the elderly.

It's time for businesses to reassess their approach to eldercare workplace policies.

Here's why: currently, caregivers in India account for nearly 41% of females and 21.4% of males of the working population (aged 15-59 years), according to the National Statistical Organization's Time Use Survey (TUS) 2024. This number is expected to increase for elder caregivers as the Indian aging population is estimated to double by 2050 (according to a 2024 NITI Aayog report), reaching a staggering 200 million from 105 million currently and surpassing even the child population (aged 0–15 years).

The result: businesses can anticipate a growing pool of working adults facing intense demands for elderly caregiving that can significantly impact productivity, absenteeism, and disengagement.

It is down to employers to equitably adapt their employee caregiving benefits and corporate guidance programs to support workers navigating eldercare duties.

This article discusses the importance of eldercare workplace policies for employees, particularly as the global aging population continues to rise, necessitating prolonged emotional and financial support from caregivers.

Why Organizations Need Robust Eldercare Workplace Policies

The primary factors driving the need for eldercare workplace policies are discussed below:

• Intense, prolonged eldercare demands

The global population is living longer and aging, due to the increase in life expectancy and the decrease in fertility rates. India is no exception to this phenomenon. Unfortunately, most older adults have advanced care needs. They require constant medical, emotional, and physical support due to their poor (typically deteriorating) health.

Embracing and planning for this progressive increase in caregiving responsibilities for working adults needs to be a business imperative.

• Risk of burnout and mental health challenges, particularly among women 

Elder caregiving demands intense day-to-day physical and emotional involvement. It can make caregivers vulnerable to poor physical health and at risk for chronic stress, depression, and burnout. Many employees still power through, but this invisible strain can quietly derail their careers.

This predicament disproportionately affects Indian women, as they engage in family caregiving more than men do (nearly twice as much, as evidenced by the TUS statistics above). Women, therefore, are most in need of flexible eldercare workplace policies to prevent any negative impact on their work performance, morale, and career development.

• Inaccessible or insufficiently paid caregiving services

For most Indian families, especially those in rural areas, paid caregiving is not economically feasible. Additionally, for elderly family members who require high-intensity care (typically those aged 80 and above), paid services are often insufficient to meet their complex needs.

As a result, family members who are typically working adults (aged 15-59) often take on the role of providing elder care on top of their full-time jobs. 

However, being a primary caregiver to an elderly person while holding a job demands significant psychological and physiological strength. Often, the overwhelming responsibilities (such as liaising with healthcare providers, assisting with day-to-day instrumental tasks like meal preparation, transportation, tracking medication schedules, and nursing) and unpredictable demands force many employees to take frequent leaves. Women, in particular, tend to ignore promotions, turn down career advancement opportunities, and even leave the workforce to tend to the elderly.

• Reduced availability of family caregivers

In Indian cultures, household members (typically children) informally serve as the primary caregivers to their elderly. However, the availability of younger family caregivers is also decreasing. According to the UNFPA's State of World Population 2025 report, the average number of children per woman in India is decreasing, with the average number of children per woman decreasing from nearly six in 1960 to approximately two in 2024. Consequently, fewer younger people are able to care for their aging family members today.

Many in this age bracket also relocate to different cities or even countries for better opportunities, and therefore, can not provide day-to-day assistance.

Businesses need to provide more flexible support on the job as well as access to formal caregiving arrangements for working adults with caregiving duties.

What Businesses Can Do 

Businesses have a responsibility to sponsor employee caregiving benefits and humane accommodations to support their caregiving worker demographic. 

The benefits of doing so are clear: 

• Elder caregivers may be able to maintain their employment and remain productive.

• Companies can avoid absenteeism and voluntary exits. Robust employee caregiving benefits can ensure the retention of top talent.

• Inclusive and supportive workplaces can improve recruitment and diversity efforts.

• Caregivers may bring valuable competencies to their work, such as empathy, resilience, and efficiency.

At the same time, the costs of inaction are acute: increased absenteeism, stagnating careers, premature exits, workforce disengagement, and widespread burnout.

Here are essential steps employers can take to ease the strain on elder caregivers:

1. Offer and encourage the use of employee assistance programs (EAPs) as the principal avenue for finding the right providers and specialists of elder care services. These can also include tools, guidance, and informational resources to help navigate specific health conditions.

2. Offer flexibility over work scheduling—employers can allow elder caregivers to work remotely or flexibly manage their workday, for instance, letting them step away to provide care or work non-traditional hours. In fact, managers should encourage caregivers to take their available leaves and manage their paid time off flexibly, such as vacation days, sick leave, and personal time. 

3. Offering specific employee caregiving benefits that unload some of the caregiver’s responsibilities can help them navigate stressful times. For instance, concierge caregiver support, assistance with scheduling medical appointments, care navigation (including helplines), and home health aides can genuinely help with productive employment.

4. The caregiver’s health, particularly their psychological well-being, requires greater attention and recognition. Providing access to care advocates and managers for counselling and mental health support can help them combat the stress, depression, and mental fatigue resulting from caregiving responsibilities.

5. Providing access to a network where elder caregivers can connect and share their experiences and ideas on navigating eldercare can be of great help. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) or “affinity groups,” are generally effective in making individuals feel heard and understood. They help reduce the risk of isolation and burnout.

6. Companies can onboard certified financial planners to help their caregiving employees plan and protect their finances.

7. To ensure employees’ caregiving responsibilities do not derail their careers, companies should make space for training and development without overwhelming their already full daily schedules. This means the timing and format (such as asynchronous learning, microlearning, in-person training, etc.) of these initiatives should be planned carefully.  

8. Regularly reviewing (conducting surveys, measuring ROI, etc.) and upgrading eldercare workplace policies might help address gaps and improve effectiveness.

Conclusion 

Employees who have overlapping caregiver duties, whether towards their children, parents, relatives, or those with special needs, are navigating one of the most challenging phases of their lives. Their competing responsibilities are likely to spill into their professional lives and affect their performance. Organizations need to acknowledge this and support elder caregivers with more humane policies.

If employees feel valued, respected, and cared for as individuals, organizations are more likely to see healthier, happier, and more engaged employees.