Calculating the Cost of Caregiving

Research shows that employees who care for loved ones during “off-work” hours reduce the productivity and increase the health-care benefits costs of their employers. It is likely, however, that many of these workers are also some of your most experienced, reliable and respected employees.

To get an idea of how much family caregiving affects your organization, answer the following two questions: 1.) How many people do you employ? and 2.) What are your average health care costs/employee? Insert this information in the chart below. You will receive an instant reply that will be completely confidential. No data will be gathered from your responses.

Partners on the Path developed this simple tool to help you begin thinking about why you should and how you can support this group of valued employees. A sound investment in supportive services will yield improved performance, productivity and well-being for the caregivers you care about and the organization you lead.

The Cost to Your Organization

Cost Calculations # of Employees # of Employee Caregivers Costs/Employee Costs of Caregiving
Cost of Lost Productivity
Additional Health Care Costs/Employed Caregiver  
Total Cost of Caregiving

Click to Update Totals

Endnotes

1 Mary Jo Gibson, and Ari Houser. Valuing the Invaluable: A New Look at the Economic Value of Family Caregiving. AARP Public Policy Institute. June 2007. www.aarp.org/ppi

2 MetLife Caregiving Cost Study: Productivity Losses to US Business. MetLife Mature Market Institute. July 2006. www.MatureMarketInstitute.com

3 Steven Albert, Richard Schulz and Alberto Colombi. The MetLife Study of Working Caregivers and Employee Health Care Costs. MetLife Mature Market Institute and National Alliance for Caregiving. February 2010. www.MatureMarketInstitute.com and www.caregiving.org