The Hidden Retirement Cost of Employee Caregiving

Recent data highlights a notable connection between caregiving responsibilities and financial strain. The 2026 Retirement Confidence Survey, conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Research, found that unpaid caregivers were more likely than non-caregivers to have limited savings and to report challenges with debt.

Among caregiving workers, 56% said caregiving affected their ability to save for emergencies, while 54% said it affected their ability to work the hours they wanted or needed. Moreover, 34% said they provided financial support to the person receiving care, and 20% took on new or additional debt because of their caregiving responsibilities. Nineteen percent reduced their retirement plan contributions, and 10% took a loan or withdrawal from a retirement savings plan. Taken together, these financial pressures may help explain why caregivers also report lower levels of retirement confidence.

Additional key findings from the research include:

•  Higher income does not eliminate the challenge. Retirement confidence gaps between caregivers and non-caregivers appeared at both lower and higher income levels, while no measurable difference was found among those with household incomes of $35,000 to $74,999. The findings suggest that caregiving-related financial pressures are not limited to lower-income employees and that outreach based on income alone may overlook employees who could benefit from additional education and support.
•  Caregiving can alter retirement expectations. Forty-four percent of caregiving workers expected to retire at age 70 or later or never retire, compared with 37% of non-caregiving workers, highlighting the potential impact caregiving responsibilities can have on retirement expectations. Retirement education and planning resources that address delayed retirement, competing financial priorities and long-term savings may help meet these participants’ needs.
•  Caregivers may benefit from more targeted guidance. Among those with household incomes of $75,000 or more, caregivers were less likely than non-caregivers to have taken several key retirement-planning steps, including estimating how much they need to save, planning for emergency expenses in retirement, and calculating expected health care costs. Participant education that addresses these areas may help caregivers recognize and plan for retirement challenges that can otherwise be easy to overlook.
•  Connecting retirement education with broader benefits. Targeted education, flexible work policies, emergency-savings resources, and other caregiver benefits can work together to help employees manage competing financial priorities while maintaining progress toward retirement.

For plan sponsors, the findings are a reason to consider whether participant education addresses the less visible ways caregiving can affect retirement readiness. This may include reviewing communications to ensure employees understand the potential impact of reduced contributions, plan loans or withdrawals, competing emergency-savings needs, and delayed retirement planning. Plan sponsors can also consider whether existing retirement and broader workplace benefits are being communicated effectively to employees managing caregiving responsibilities. Your plan advisor can help identify potential gaps in participant education and opportunities to better connect employees with available resources.

Source:  

https://www.ebri.org/docs/default-source/pbriefs/ebri_ib_661_rcscare-22jul26.pdf?sfvrsn=55f00c2f_2