More than 80% of employers plan to increase their benefits budgets in 2026, yet fewer than half of employees believe those benefits are genuinely aligned with their needs. New research surveying 4,000 employees and 1,500 employers across the U.S., Canada and the UK exposes a widening gap between benefits investment and real-world impact. For HR leaders and benefits decision makers, the findings are both a diagnostic and a call to action: the benefits system is at an inflection point and organizations that adapt now will define the next era of employee support.
The research reveals that today's employees are no longer evaluating benefits as a standard employment package. Over 50% of employees have experienced a significant life disruption in the past two years — bereavement, serious illness, caregiving, disability, or pregnancy loss — and nearly half believe their employer should be responsible for providing meaningful support during those moments. Yet the support most receive falls critically short. PTO and flexible hours remain the most common responses, while access to professionals, grief guidance and administrative support rank as the least offered. The gap between what employees need and what organizations deliver is where retention, trust and engagement are won or lost.
Within this broader misalignment, one benefit category stands out: bereavement and grief support. 95% of employees say bereavement-related benefits are valuable and 84% of employers plan to expand them, yet most organizations currently lack the infrastructure, strategy or tools to do so effectively. This report gives HR leaders, benefits managers and people operations teams the data, frameworks and strategic roadmap to close the alignment gap, make the business case for life-event support, and build a benefits strategy that shows up when employees need it most.