Most US workers hide caregiving duties from HR 

• Key Insight: Discover how workplace stigma — not policy gaps — undermines caregiver retention and productivity.
• What's at Stake: Rising care responsibilities threaten talent pipeline and long-term workforce capacity.
• Supporting Data: Only 8% of employees feel comfortable discussing caregiving with HR.
  Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review

Many U.S. workers are juggling caregiving duties, but few feel comfortable discussing it with their HR managers, according to a new survey.

Data from Sparrow shows that there's a stigma around caregiving in the workplace, especially when it comes to taking time off, says Deborah Hanus, CEO of the end-to-end leave management platform. Just 8% of employees feel comfortable talking to HR about their caregiving responsibilities, and the other 92% go to their co-workers or nowhere at all, the survey found. 

Even more alarming, 20% are actively hiding their caregiving responsibilities from HR, and 41% worry they will be viewed as unreliable or distracted if they come forward. This secrecy poses a threat to employee and business growth, with many respondents saying their caregiving roles have led to reduced career ambitions. But when a company shows support with thoughtful benefits and leadership training, stigma can be dramatically reduced, says Hanus. 

"It's a cultural issue, and most culture starts at the top," she says. "Managers often unintentionally create stigma without knowing just because they don't know what to say. They haven't been through this situation before."

Sparrow partners with employers to handle much of the administrative burden that leave can create, assisting benefit leaders and employees. It also works with employees and their managers to make the return-from-leave transition smooth when the time comes. 

"When I started looking more into how HR teams are managing this, what we found is that in a lot of ways the whole process is even more painful for HR than it is for the employees," Hanus says.

Read more: Exclusive research: Caregiving support boosts recruitment and retention

No longer an 'invisible workforce'

An estimated 63 million Americans are caregivers, representing a 45 % increase over the past decade, according to a joint 2025 report by AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving. Of these, approximately 70% are in the workforce, and 29% fall into the sandwich generation category, providing care for both children and adults. 

 "We have to stop thinking of family caregivers as an invisible workforce," Rita B. Choula, senior director of caregiving at the AARP Public Policy Institute, said in a press release. "They are trying to hold the entire long-term care system together, and they're doing it at great personal cost. With the oldest baby boomers turning 80 next year, the need for family caregiving will only intensify in the years ahead."

What leaders can do now

As caregiving demands grow, it's more important than ever for company leaders to shift the conversation around caregiving needs, particularly leave, says Hanus, who is a parent of a young child. 

"I'm the CEO of a leave company. If anyone should feel complete job security (about balancing work with caregiving), I feel like I should," she says. "But there are times when I feel like I'm not performing at the level that I would like to be and not getting things done at the rate that I did before, and it's because I have this whole new set of responsibilities."

Read more: 'There's a lot of guilt': The emotional burden of caregiving

Hanus recommends that benefit leaders receive training on managing intermittent leave, responding to requests with empathy, and supporting employees as they reintegrate after time away. 

"Leaders need to be on board with the fact that this is important, and they will be losing a very valuable part of their workforce if they don't take it seriously," Hanus says.