Fulfilling caregiver responsibilities at home and wanting to succeed at work are not mutually exclusive. Flexible schedules, leeway to handle pop-up crises, and other reasonable accommodations can help companies retain talent and build cultures that actually work for working families.
The headline on a February 2025 Forbes feature blared, “Companies Are Failing Working Parents And Paying The Price”. And sometimes, it really feels that way. As a local lawyer and mom of two kids under four recently told me, “I knew ‘work/life balance’ was a bit of a myth, but I didn’t realize having a corporate job as a parent would be this difficult.”
As a psychotherapist specializing in women’s mental health during life transitions—including career shifts, new babies, and reproductive health changes—I often hear these kinds of stress-induced confessions. But I also engage frequently with employers who want to do right by their teams, including those raising children. These companies aren’t trying to fail their working parents—or any employees for that matter. In fact, they want them to thrive. Right here in Westchester, we’re seeing businesses actively supporting working parents, or at least becoming more aware of what their needs might be and how to meet them.
After all, parents need to work to support their families. Workplaces need talented, loyal, and efficient employees—many of whom are parenting kids of all ages—to succeed. Here’s how employers can help.
Ask and Assess
Through my work, I help women become more confident asking for what they need to succeed in their careers, a move that is often intimidating. “Employees may be reluctant to ask for certain benefits because they don’t want to be perceived as needy or unprofessional,” explains Kacy Fleming, a global workplace well-being expert with a master’s in organizational psychology and founder of Kacy Fleming Consulting.
Interestingly, while researching my book, Millennial Menopause: Preparing for Perimenopause, Menopause, and Life’s Next Period, I came across a compelling study by Bank of America and The Menopause Foundation. It found that the number one reason employers don’t offer certain benefits is that employees haven’t asked for them. This suggests that for change to happen, open communication about family-related needs is crucial.
Thankfully, the conversation around caregiving is shifting in corporate settings. Fleming and I have both seen how collective requests—through employee resource groups, for example—can be highly effective and feel less risky to any given individual.
“The key to doing this right is a partnership between employees and their companies, with communication and efficient feedback loops as the cornerstone,” says Rebecca Bloom, author of When Women Get Sick: An Empowering Approach for Getting the Support You Need and a benefits attorney turned health advocate.
“Employees appreciate benefits that are tailored to them—where they can choose what matters most during a particular season of life.”
Collective requests for specific benefits—made through employee resource groups, for example—can be highly effective and feel less risky to any given individual. For broader perspective, employers can also host focus groups, send surveys, and research what peer companies are offering.
Employers, for their part, can also initiate the conversation by asking, “What caregiving-related benefits would you like access to?” Send surveys, host focus groups, and explore what peer companies are doing. Offering certain benefits on a trial basis and holding brief but regular check-ins can go a long way toward showing mutual effort and appreciation.
Put Policies in Place That Work
Experts and employees agree: Caregivers value flexibility. “That might include asynchronous schedules, hybrid work, and trusting employees to have autonomy,” Fleming says. Bloom adds: “Policies that acknowledge the real, often unpredictable challenges caregivers face—like a sick child or an elder’s sudden need—are the most prioritized.” Possibilities may include flex shifts, job-sharing, or remote work when feasible.
DAC Group New York, a digital marketing agency in Purchase, encourages flexible schedules and also offers paid vacation, wellness afternoons, and financial support for continuing education. For parents specifically, benefits like paid parental leave (including for fathers and NICU stays), fertility and adoption support, and access to mental health services are all invaluable. Benefits like these are what landed the company the number four spot on 914INC.’s 2023 “Best Places to Work” in Westchester rankings, as voted by DAC Group’s employees.
Larger companies such as Morgan Stanley, McKinsey, and Skadden—also with local presences—often partner with programs like Phoebe, an online benefits platform. Phoebe connects employees with coaches like me to help with transitions such as returning from parental leave. According to a case study from Phoebe founder Emily Klingbeil, one Morgan Stanley employee shared, “Phoebe showed me the firm really cares about working mothers and setting us up for success.”
Support can extend beyond the employee to their dependents. Bloom notes that some companies “go the extra mile” with offerings like organic baby food services, after-school carpool support, elder bill-paying assistance, or emergency care. PepsiCo, headquartered in Purchase, even provides tutoring, test prep, and scholarships for employees’ children. But for parents of younger kids, childcare is crucial—and too often lacking. Companies that get creative with subsidies, onsite camps or daycare, or emergency care—are seeing real returns in terms of productivity and retention, according to Fleming.
Create a Culture of Care
Fleming points to research showing that company-sponsored childcare can yield up to a 425% return on investment. Patagonia, for example, has offered onsite childcare since 1983—and has a 100% retention rate of mothers returning from leave. “That’s what happens when you stop treating parenthood as a liability and start treating it as part of life,” she says. It’s a win-win.
When working parents feel supported, they’re more productive, loyal, and less likely to leave. Bloom says, “It always costs more to hire new employees than it does to keep solid, productive ones feeling appreciated.” Fleming notes that 12 weeks of paid leave can reduce turnover by up to 69%. Klingbeil adds that replacing a high-level employee can cost up to 250% of their annual salary—and even more when factoring in productivity loss and time spent recruiting and onboarding a replacement.
The Phoebe program, for instance, served 185 Morgan Stanley employees over four years for just $553.60 per person—yielding a 90% retention rate and nearly $54 in value for every $1 invested. While some employers hesitate due to perceived costs, Bloom emphasizes these programs are “often easy to administer and less expensive than expected.” In other words, short-term costs can lead to significant long-term gains. Smaller companies can start on their own scale. “They don’t need massive budgets,” Fleming says. “They can begin by updating leave policies and encouraging flexibility from the top down—responsive, realistic steps that help them stay competitive.”
Recognize the Cultural Context
To the companies already investing in caregiving: Thank you. In our culture, caregiving is often undervalued—even as the actual cost of childrearing continues to rise. Today’s parents are navigating intense pressure to be constantly available for both work and family needs, and ongoing gender inequities in domestic roles. Even the most well-intentioned companies face headwinds. “American companies often end up providing what we’d expect from a public safety net in other countries,” Bloom notes. “It’s a pervasive issue—affecting not just workplaces, but healthcare and society at large.”
The good news? We can help shift the narrative. It’s not just about working parents supporting one another, as I’ve written before—it’s about businesses stepping up, too. It’s not only about asking for benefits but also offering and using them. It’s not just about recognizing the importance of paid leave—it’s about understanding how critical that support is for mental health, family bonding, and economic progress for women.
Companies that get creative with childcare—offering subsidies, onsite or offsite daycare and back-up care, or even camps—are seeing real returns.
As Fleming wisely explains, this is not just about valuing the worker, but the whole human. It’s time we work—together—toward cultural change, in our companies and beyond.
Lauren A. Tetenbaum, LCSW, JD, PMH-C, is a Scarsdale-based social worker specializing in women’s reproductive mental health. A mom of two school-aged children, she provides therapy across NY, NJ, CT, and FL, facilitates workshops and groups, and writes about maternal wellness, perimenopause, gender equity, and working parenthood. A former lawyer, Tetenbaum is passionate about supporting women through life transitions. Her debut book, Millennial Menopause: Preparing for Perimenopause, Menopause, and Life’s Next Period, was released in July 2025.
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