Massachusetts Caregiver Coalition

Who We Are

The Massachusetts Caregiver Coalition is an innovative team of leading employers, advocates, and government partners committed to recognizing, supporting, and building creative solutions that allow family caregivers to continue to thrive in the workplace while also caring for family at home. At our launch in 2019, the Coalition released a Massachusetts State of Care Survey— Embracing Carers™ and an Employer Toolkit providing best practices for employers to support family caregivers within their workforces.

Mission

To partner with, encourage, and challenge Massachusetts employers wherever they are in their progress of supporting employee caregivers by:

Illuminating the needs of employee caregivers and their economic impact;
Identifying, sharing, and leveraging best practices inclusive of all employer sizes, locations and types of workforce;
Championing employee caregiver policies; and
Enabling culture change for caregivers across all sectors of the economy.

Why It Matters

The average family caregiver over the age of 50 will lose an estimated $303,880 in wages, pensions, retirement funds, and benefits.
Six in 10 caregivers report working while caregiving (61 percent) and the majority have experienced at least one work-related impact (61 percent)
In an average year, the impact of caregiving responsibilities on MA employers amounts to a total cost of nearly $1 billion due to employee absenteeism, turnover, and presenteeism, with the majority of these costs stemming from caregivers having to leave the workforce.
When surveying Massachusetts based family caregivers, the Embracing Carers™ survey found that 68% of family caregivers have difficulty sleeping on a regular basis; 58% of family caregivers feel that their physical health has suffered due to their caregiving role; 27% of family caregivers feel their career has been negatively affected by their role as a caregiver (ages 26-34), and; 84% of family caregivers say it would be helpful if a friend, neighbor or family member were to offer them support in their caring role.