Cleo

We're thrilled to be a member of the National Alliance for Caregiving and work together to help make life better for family caregivers 💜

Read that again, indeed. Thanks, Personify Health, for this urgent call to action around supporting caregivers. Cleo is proud to be a partner in the Personify Partner Ecosystem, helping even more employers support the mental health and wellbeing of the 73% of employees who are caregivers. 💜

Here at Cleo, we support every life stage — from babies to kids to teens to eldercare — and that includes the earliest days! August is #BreastfeedingAwarenessMonth and we're proud to share that a full 50% of our members report they are exclusively breastfeeding at 6 months, which exceeds the U.S. Healthy People 2030 goal of 42%  🙌 So, why is this important to the workforce? According to a study published on NIH, if 90% of mothers could comply with current medical recommendations around breastfeeding, our economy could save $3.7 billion in direct and indirect pediatric health costs, with $10.1 billion in premature death from pediatric disease. Moreover, breastfeeding provides nutrition, boosts babies' immune systems, and supports mothers' health. It also fosters emotional bonding, improves cognitive development, and contributes to the overall well-being of families. By supporting breastfeeding, we’re not just enhancing individual health—we're building stronger, healthier families, communities, and workforces. 🌍

This advisory about the dangerous levels of stress that U.S. parents are facing is alarming. If you're a benefits leader, however, there are things you can do about it today (read on) 👇 The U.S. surgeon general Dr. Vivek Murthy issued an advisory today. “The stresses parents and caregivers have today are being passed to children in direct and indirect ways, impacting families and communities across America,” he said. In the advisory, Murthy said 41 percent of parents say they are so stressed most days they can’t function, and 48 percent say their stress is completely overwhelming compared to other adults. But, crucially, there are things that employers can do right now. 💡 73% of the workforce is made up of parents and caregivers. Those same employees are part of this group that Murthy is calling to support. 📣 For employers, and therefore benefit leaders, the official recommendation of the U.S. Surgeon General is to: ▶ Expand policies and programs that support the well-being of parents and caregivers in the workplace. ◀ Cleo has always been there to partner with employers to support parent mental health and well-being, so that those parents, caregivers, and employers themselves can thrive. Reach out to us today to talk about how to expand parent support at your organization.

We know parenting and caregiving is a team effort. 🏅 That’s why we’re committed to making it easier than ever to keep caregivers connected with their support networks. Here’s how: → We've launched group messaging for our members, allowing for more streamlined communication with their loved ones and Cleo experts. Our members can start a group message anytime with any Cleo experts and added partners to combine efforts and stay up-to-date with one another. For example, a parent can start a group message with their Cleo parent coach and their spouse to discuss support for their child with autism. Or a sister and her caregiving partner can start a group message with a dementia expert to discuss care for their mom. → We’re adding even more group classes, coaching sessions, and opportunities for parents and caregivers to connect with their fellow members on a similar journey. These sessions allow our Cleo experts to provide a space for members to learn about topics important to them — such as sleep, positive parenting, menopause support, navigating a loss, cancer care, and many others — and receive support through shared experiences. We’ve seen firsthand the impact of a strong support network for parents and caregivers — especially through results from our proprietary Family Health Index related to caregiving burden and social connectedness — and how it can transform both their lives and their workplaces. 👩👩👧👦 Learn more:

Are caregiving benefits a "nice to have," rather than essential, for your organization? You might want to read this: Jennifer Birdsall, Ph.D., ABPP points out that women accounted for 71% of all mental health leaves of absence in 2024, a two percent jump from last year. Given that women disproportionately take on caregiving responsibilities, Dr. Birdsall wasn't surprised that they were the ones who needed leave the most. And caregiving hasn't gotten any easier, as working parents are often responsible for children and elderly parents — according to insurance company Guardian, the average time devoted to caregiving has tripled since 2020 to 26 hours per week. There is so much that's contributing to the weight on employees' shoulders, and it doesn't look like it's going to let up in 2025. Employers, don't simply consider a "benefit" as a "nice to have." This is an essential component of your employees' mental health.

Take a look at some key insights in Mercer's 2025 Health & Benefit Strategies Report, specifically with regards to #caregiving: 1️⃣ Childcare offerings are gaining in popularity as a way to differentiate benefits and be seen as an employer of choice. 2️⃣ Where once employers may have been concerned about providing “special treatment” for caregivers, today leading employers see enhanced support for caregivers as key to recruiting and retaining the talent they need. 3️⃣ A third of employers are offering eldercare referrals/consultations; a similar portion provides grief counseling/ coaching. At Cleo, we're proud to have child care, elder care, and grief care as some of top areas of support. Through this support and others, Cleo helps prevent mental health strain and productivity loss, and therefore helps drive ROI for our wonderful customers. Post in the comments which one of these areas is most important to your org 👇

Thrilled to partner with forward-thinking Nava Benefits, so that more customers can reap the life-changing benefits of Cleo's caregiving support 💜

If you had a group of employees that experienced more challenges than others, wouldn't you dedicate resources to supporting them? "In order to boost overall well-being, leaders need to understand how enacting policies or improving benefits can likely improve employees’ overall well-being." We work directly with dozens of employee resource groups (ERGs) like the one featured in this article to ensure that working parents and caregivers get the support they need. The result? The employee and the employer thrive.