The strain of balancing work with caring for children and elderly relatives is adversely affecting the mental health of more than a third of workers with such responsibilities, research has found.
Notably, as many as one in five workers are in the positon of juggling dual caring responsibilities for children and elderly relatives, according to the Opinium poll of 2,000 adults commissioned by Unum.
As a result, the need to support employee mental health is particularly pressing for people finding themselves in this situation.
The survey found 35% of so called ‘sandwich generation’ workers saying the responsibilities had affected their mental health, 29% said it had affected their financial health; and 25% their physical health.
But the data also showed 20% of these workers said they were less productive at work and 13% had left an unsupportive employer.
A quarter (24%) of these workers have needed time off work to manage their caring responsibilities, with a further 16% saying it pushed them into taking time off sick.
While most of these workers say their employer understands their needs, 31% said their employer had a poor understanding of their responsibilities.
And despite 38% saying their employer offered flexible hours, fewer than a third of employees received help from their employer in the form of remote working, emergency leave to care for ill dependents or an employee assistance programme (EAP).
One in five (21%) said their employer did not offer support to help balance their work and home responsibilities.
Alongside flexible work arrangements, employees wanted to see their employers:
- Create a specific support programme, including signposting to external care (35%)
- Improve or provide resources for life and wellbeing support (31%)
- Provide onsite childcare resources or financial support for childcare (31%)
- Improve or give access to mental health assistance (26%)
Mark Till, CEO of Unum UK, said: “It’s clear from our data that there is work for employers to do to support the huge number of UK workers with dual caring responsibilities.
“A comprehensive benefits package can provide a wide array of support services for employees having to manage caregiving responsibilities and work — especially around mental, financial and physical health concerns that sandwich generation workers raise as a particular issue.
“The bottom line is employers must consider how to be understanding while providing effective support services to avoid losing staff who feel under-supported.”