The Great Resignation of 2022 created a pervasive issue across all enterprise organizations: attracting and retaining top talent. In fact, 63% of recruiters say the talent shortage is their biggest problem, and, as a result, leaders are scrambling to implement policies, perks, and other benefits to set their business apart from competitors.
Corporations evaluating company-differentiating policies should put family-building benefits at the top of the list. After all, the makeup of the modern workforce is changing and becoming more diverse. And family-building benefits must accommodate the unique situations of all employees, including single individuals, LGBTQ+ community members, and anyone struggling with infertility.
Here’s a closer look at how offering family-building benefits can help businesses attract and retain top talent.
Modern Families Look Different Than Their Legacy Benefits Policies
Healthcare policies, especially those designed for older, larger corporations, were typically not created with diversity in mind. Yet, the makeup of the modern workforce has evolved. The private sector employs an estimated 7 million LGBTQ+ people, while the country’s public sector employs more than 1 million.
It is safe to say that a portion of these diverse employees will look for ways to build a family, and employers will play a significant part in their family-building decisions. A majority (70%) of millennials and 90% of those experiencing infertility are willing to change jobs for fertility benefits.
While the demand for family-building benefits is there, and it’s clearly crucial to talent retention, few U.S. employers offer such coverage. Only around a third of small U.S. employers and 61% of large corporations cover some variation of fertility services.
Fertility Benefits Fill Gaps in Traditional Insurance Coverage
In addition to limited corporate benefits policies, traditional insurance has historically been exclusionary to certain groups. Most employer-provided insurance policies don’t cover any sort of adoption planning, hormone replacement therapy, or egg freezing. Furthermore, they typically only cover in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other fertility treatments for a set number of rounds.
Certain minority groups also lack access to traditional insurance policies. For example, black women are three times more likely to die during pregnancy and after childbirth than their white counterparts. Modern fertility benefits include support during pregnancy and postpartum, helping bridge the accessibility gap in health care and provide better overall clinical outcomes.
Fertility Benefits Show Real Support for a Diverse Workforce
From the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade to dramatic inflation to a looming recession, the world has felt uncertain, and the workplace isn’t immune to these instability-causing factors. In the midst of this volatility, candidates and employees want employers to recognize their needs and leadership to support these needs. Modern fertility benefits can be the key to helping offset some of these concerns.
For example, organizations can implement travel reimbursement programs as part of their fertility benefits. These programs provide completely legal and confidential support for employees who have to travel for quality reproductive care.
Facing economic uncertainty, modern benefits can also provide employees with peace of mind by relieving them of some of fertility care’s financial burden. A single IVF cycle can cost up to $30,000, and healthcare costs associated with pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care average $18,865, with out-of-pocket payments averaging around $2,854. But businesses that provide high-performance fertility benefits significantly reduce those amounts by providing access to top clinics and reducing the number of cycles to birth and risk of unexpected multiple births (i.e., twins and triplets).
The Great Resignation—and the ensuing top talent shortages—is impacting businesses everywhere. But enterprises can evaluate their benefits packages to appeal to more diverse groups and give employees the flexibility in and access to care they want. As businesses look at which perks to add in the coming years, they should consider adding modern fertility and family planning benefits that create family-friendly workplaces and attract and retain the next generation of employees.
Jeni Mayorskaya is the founder and CEO of Stork Club, a next-generation benefits provider that helps enterprises attract diverse top talent, drive better clinical outcomes, and reduce their largest area of healthcare cost: maternity care. Stork Club has raised over $32 million and is backed by leading healthcare investors, including General Catalyst, Bowery Capital, and Slow Ventures. Before founding Stork Club, Mayorskaya cofounded Bookmate, an award-winning cross-platform e-library, and served in several strategic marketing and consulting roles. She brings more than 15 years of strategic leadership experience to the Stork Club team and is inspired by her personal connection to the cause: Early in her career, she was diagnosed with reproductive health disorders that carried a risk of infertility. After hearing this same story from hundreds of other women, Mayorskaya started Stork Club with the mission to enable people to take control of their reproductive health and be empowered to build a family on their own terms.