Businesses have long respected the need for new parents to take time away from their career to focus on the many needs of a newborn, but what’s been acknowledged a great deal less is the equally important need for adult children to take time off to care for their aging parents. Yet as our life expectancy continues to expand, and as baby boomers are going into their senior years, the balancing act to manage professional and family lives has become more prevalent.
And trying to balance a career alongside senior care requirements can be very difficult. The truth is, providing care alone, without adding in work-related stress, places caregivers at an increased chance of depression, drug abuse, and a number of physical concerns: cardiovascular illnesses, infections, and cancer, just to name a few.
And though the Family and Medical Leave Act ensures that employees of larger companies gain access to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, only 13% of employees receive paid family leave – a crucial thing for a lot of people to ensure financial needs are met. And a full one out of every seven employees who cares for an older friend or family member end up decreasing their time in the workplace, accepting a lesser-paying position, or leaving the workforce altogether.
One potential solution to keep a close watch on is the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Act, or FAMILY Act, introduced last year to provide limited income to family caregivers for approximately twelve weeks for providing care for a senior loved one facing a health issue. To date, five states have passed similar policies (New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and California – plus Washington, DC).
Even though paid leave for caregivers is expensive for companies, Maureen Corcoran of Prudential Financial notes, “It is not more costly than losing employees early to disability, to early retirement, to presenteeism (when employees show up for work but don’t get much done).”
Fortunately, there is one other solution readily available to all family caregivers: partnering with an expert Dallas home care agency like Heaven at Home Senior Care. We provide family members with the peace of mind needed to focus in the office, knowing their senior loved one is receiving the best possible quality of care, personalized to each individual’s unique needs.
Contact our Dallas home care team online or call us at 866-381-0500 for more information on our professional in-home care services, to request educational resources specific to the challenges your senior loved one is experiencing, or to obtain a free in-home assessment to see how we can allow you to regain an appropriate life balance.