September BenefitBump Buzz

In today’s “All the Buzz”, we discuss how states are expanding childcare supports, how childcare and family-friendly benefits are gaining popularity in recruitment and retention plans, and a behind the scenes’ look at a BenefitBump expert’s experience of returning to work after parental leave. These are all positive developments, but serve as a reminder of the increased complexity of being a working parent. Having a resource, like BenefitBump, to pull these supports (employer and public) together is vital.?

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??Compliance Happenings?

Washington – is attempting to cap childcare expenses at 7% of household income for an increasing percentage of the State’s low income population. Those eligible for state subsidies will increase from those making 60% of the median state income for similar families to 85% of the median income by 2027.??

Vermont – creating subsidies to increase the quality and capacity of childcare providers and expand financial supports for families. Families making up to 176% of the federal poverty level (FPL) pay $50/week; partial subsidies available up to 575% of the FPL. The goal is to hold childcare costs to approximately 10% or less of household income.??

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??Top Stories –?SHRM says benefits are “All about family this year” as paid family leave programs see 5% boost - The 2023 SHRM Employee Benefits Survey shows significant progress in parental and family leave benefits programs, reflecting increased employer commitment to supporting employees in both their personal and professional lives. Paid maternity leave and paternity leave have each increased by 5 percentage points from the previous year, with 40% and 32% of employers now offering them, respectively. The survey, conducted among 4,217 HR professionals from various organizations, also found that paid parental leave is now provided by 39% of employers, marking a 6-point increase from the previous year. Paid adoption leave and paid foster child leave have also seen gains of 6 and 3 percentage points, with 34% and 25% of employers offering them, respectively.??

Outside of parental benefits, other types of family benefits are growing as well. Paid family leave so employees can care for an immediate family member became slightly more common, with one-third of employers (33 percent) now offering it. Meanwhile, nearly 2 in 10 employers (18 percent) provide paid leave to care for extended family.?

For more information: Parental, Family Leave Programs See Boost in 2023 SHRM Employee Benefits Survey?

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Childcare Benefits are Second to Healthcare When Retaining Employees – KinderCare’s Confidence Report released this year, sheds light on the ways working parents view the future of work, and just how heavily childcare affordability and accessibility weighs on them, both mentally and financially. 18% of employees ranked child care benefits most important for staying at their current job and 67% of parents want their employer to offset the rising cost of childcare for their employees.??

The majority of parents agree having access to quality child care allows them to not only excel at work but also be more present as a parent when they are with their children, with 82% of parents who use daycare or preschool for childcare noting that they are highly self-confident. On the flipside, 64% of parents say they are constantly thinking about child care gaps, with half also noting that piecing together enough child care coverage is a significant source of stress.?

For more information: KinderCare Confidence Report?

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A Behind the Scenes Look at a BenefitBump Expert’s Return to Work After Baby #2 (hint, hint it is hard for experts, too)– BenefitBump’s Director of Clinical Strategy & Participant Experience recently returned to work after baby #2 and gave us a behind the scenes look at what employees experience every day. She thought she had everything under control, she should be an expert at this afterall: her team supports growing families as they navigate leave, benefits, childcare, emotional well-being, and more. She’s also a “veteran” parent (and a veteran COVID parent, at that). She knew the emotional and logistical pain points to expect -- (lack of) childcare, childcare disruptions, feelings of isolation, and confusion about benefits, to name a few. From the moment they found out that they were expecting, she was diligent about putting systems in place that would better support them through the hurdles and still, things didn’t go exactly as planned…read her full story here: A BenefitBump Expert’s Experience of Return-to-Work — BenefitBump.?

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??Praise for Family-Friendly Companies?

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Trailblazers – Sandberg Phoenix was recently recognized as one of the Healthiest Employers of St. Louis list for 200-499 employees. Congrats Sandberg Phoenix! We’re honored to be a part of your success! Here is a link to the full article: https://www.healthiestemployers.com/healthiest-employers-events/st-louis?

??Upcoming Events??

Upcoming BenefitBump Webinar - Come hear from the BenefitBump leave experts, Scott Liebman , Sarah Moore (She/Her/Hers) , and Bethel Trask, MSW, LCSW on Tuesday, Sept. 26th at 11am CT, where the BenefitBump Team will provide legislative updates, benchmarking data for STD/maternity leave, parental leave, caregiver leave, and bereavement leave, challenges employees face when returning to work, current market solutions, and practical tips and tricks to help you smooth out processes and procedures.?

Meet BenefitBump's Newest Executive Team Member - We are excited to welcome Sherry Crowley to our team! Sherry joins us with over 25 years of experience in assessment, design and implementation of a comprehensive range of health and welfare benefits endeavors with a focus on large complex employers and health systems. This experience will be helpful in her new role leading strategy and product at BenefitBump. Sherry and Scott Liebman worked together at WTW many years ago, partnering to deliver training to WTW’s consultants and associates. They have stayed connected over the years and will be reunited at BenefitBump. “When Sherry and I met to discuss BenefitBump, initially, she was so excited about the gaps we were filling and our ability to be a “maximizer” in her terms. She was eager to share our program with her clients and colleagues and the more we talked, the more obvious it became that she should be part of our next chapter as a member of our team.”??

Scott’s Monthly Soap Box – Being a Working Parent is Hard??

I have spent time over the past few weeks working on our presentation for the Indiana Wellness Summit. It provided a great reason for an updated literature search on many things family building, maternal mental health, birth outcomes, etc.??

WOW! It is not easy. We were lucky, having three healthy, mostly on-time babies. Granted, the OB scared the heck out of us in most appointments and we had a few scares during delivery, all went well. But, having three kids under 4 took a toll on our mental health, especially my wife’s, who describes that time as her “dark place.” So, she was one of the many untreated PPD sufferers.?

Only about half of moms will go through pregnancy without research measured challenges (because there are plenty of unmeasured challenges). Even for individuals going through fertility treatment, it is more than having a benefit through their employer. Before getting on the table below, many have experienced loss, the inability to become pregnant, faced health plan exclusions, etc.??

Going further than this table, many families can’t afford childcare, experience workday or career disruptions because of their caregiving responsibilities, have trouble with breastfeeding, experience a financial crisis, etc.?

So, as you all are thinking about solutions for your organization or your clients, please consider all 1,000 families in this graphic. It is tough to be a growing family and investments in holistic solutions improve outcomes for employees and their employer.?