Employee benefits provider Unum has increased the assistance it offers to its 9,400 US employees when adopting a child.
From this month, the organisation will provide a one-off payment of £25,000 (£19,103) to help cover the cost of adoption for employees.
The average cost of adoption from foster care in the United States in $2,500, while the cost of private domestic and international adoptions cost upwards of $43,000, not including the cost of lost salary while bonding with the child post-adoption, according to Adoptive Family magazine’s Adoption cost and timing survey.
In 2018, Unum increased its infertility benefits to $25,000 to help cover the cost of treatments, and introduced six weeks of fully paid parental leave after the birth, adoption or fostering of a child.
Unum also offers a number of benefits for working parents, including:
- Flexible-working policies.
- Dedicated lactation rooms at home offices.
- Milk Stork services for mothers travelling for business.
- A simplified tool to help new parents plan for parental leave called LeaveLogic.
- A working parents network.
- Pre-tax childcare savings accounts and 529 education plan contributions.
- Competitive paid time off policy.
- Student debt relief programme to help pay for childrens’ education.
Liz Ahmed, executive vice president of people and communications at Unum, said: “Adoption is an important avenue to consider for people growing their families, but it can be expensive. Offering financial support to employees expanding their families is another way we can help working parents thrive.”