where parents want to see improvements and investments

In addition to offering thoughts on current benefits, members also chimed in on where they want employers to increase support in future years.

• Flexible scheduling is the top ranked benefit — parents need to be able to carry out their responsibilities like picking up their kid from daycare, dropping them off at a friend's house, or taking them to the doctor. Providing flex hours, and a culture that doesn’t discriminate against those who use them, is essential.

• Unsurprisingly, providing better and longer parental leave is a top requested benefit. 

• The importance employees put on digital health and support tools to help them better manage life as a working parent, especially during their RTW journey, grew YoY. This illustrates the need to modernize support systems beyond paper and telephonic means.

• Parents think employers are still falling short on RTW support for legal mandates, like breastfeeding protections.