What are eldercare benefits?
According to the government’s Family resources survey: financial year 2023 to 2024, across all age groups people aged 55 to 64 years were most likely to be informal carers, and the main recipients of informal care were parents. Of all informal carers, 35% cared for parents living outside their household and 7% cared for parents living inside their household.
With the UK population ageing, the pressure on employers to offer eldercare benefits will only increase. At present, according to eldercare provider KareHero, only 14% of organisations offer adult care support and 5.7% offer dedicated care support programmes.
Eldercare benefits typically sit across three categories. First is practical care support, including emergency or short-notice care and respite support. The second is care navigation and advisory services, with employers providing access to specialist consultations or concierge-style services that help employees understand care options, and navigate local authority systems and funding routes.
Thirdly, employers can provide eldercare support as part of their broader financial and wellbeing offering. This might include dependent care support, stipends and paid or unpaid carer’s leave. Many employee assistance programmes (EAPs) now include eldercare-specific referral services, counselling and signposting to community resources.
What are the cost implications?
Costs vary depending on the model. Some organisations pay for programme access with usage allowances built in; others will fund care on a per-use basis. Employers may choose to target support towards specific employee demographics.
When assessing the business case for eldercare benefits, it is worth looking at the cost of not providing support, in impact on absence levels, turnover and productivity. According to Seniorcare by Lottie, 33% of employees with an elderly dependent miss at least six days of work per year. In it’s State of caring 2025 report, published in October 2025, Carers UK has found that 64% of working carers report difficulty concentrating at work, with 35% choosing to reduce their hours.
Are there any tax or legal issues?
The Carer’s Leave Act 2023 entitles employees to one week of unpaid flexible leave per year to care for dependents with long-term needs. This leave can be taken flexibly in half or full days, is available from the first day of employment, and provides the same employment protections as other forms of family-related leave. Although there is no statutory obligation for carer’s leave to be paid, many employers choose to do so.
Employers should be aware of how their eldercare policies align with flexible-working rights such as the day one right to request flexible working; equality legislation as eldercare responsibilities tend to fall disproportionately on women and certain ethnic minorities; and data protection rules around employees disclosing sensitive information.
In the UK, employer-funded financial support for eldercare, such as stipends and vouchers, may create a taxable benefit in kind. Employers should seek tax advice.
What are the current market trends or developments?
According to Bright Horizons, several structural shifts are influencing the evolution of the eldercare market, moving it from a niche issue to mainstream workforce risk. These include an increasingly multi-generational workforce, an ageing population driving greater caring needs and tightened state support shifting responsibility onto families.
The Carer’s Leave Act has driven employer awareness beyond the statutory minimum. Since the act was introduced, Seniorcare by Lottie has seen a 141% increase in employer demand and a 41% rise in employees using services to find care options for elderly dependents. Carers UK is lobbying the government to make paid carer’s leave a statutory requirement.
The number of sandwich carers in the UK, those simultaneously caring for ageing parents and dependent children, is growing. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there were an estimated 1.4 million sandwich carers of working age between 2021 and 2023. As this number increases, employee pressure on employers will intensify.
Who are the main providers and what types of schemes do they offer?
Bright Horizons is the leading provider in the UK back-up care space, helping cover sudden care breakdowns. Its back-up adult and eldercare offering provides short-notice support to bridge these gaps, and can include in-home care and companionship, support with daily living activities, local care sourcing and coordination, and access to specialist consultations.
Seniorcare by Lottie is a dedicated eldercare benefit provider. Its platform offers a care concierge service, a resource library, community forum, manager training modules, Lottie Care Vouchers (employer-funded care subsidies), live occupancy and pricing data across UK care homes, and discounted care fee rates.
KareHero is another specialist provider, with an offering including phone support, care funding advice, care needs assessments, benefits funding review and legal support on issues such as power of attorney.
Major employee assisance programme (EAP) and occupational providers such as Bupa, Health Assured and others increasingly include eldercare signposting and carer wellbeing services within their broader platforms.
