November 2, 2026
In life, all of us will be cared for and many of us will find ourselves caring for someone else.
It may mean raising young children while building a career. It may mean helping an aging parent navigate health care, housing, or a significant life transition. For some, it means doing both at the same time. And caregiving responsibilities can emerge gradually or change unexpectedly.
During National Family Caregivers Month this November, we are taking time to recognize a reality that touches millions of working Americans: a career and caregiving often happen simultaneously.
According to Caregiving in the US 2025, research led by AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving, seven in 10 family caregivers are employed, meaning caregiving and working life are intertwined for a significant portion of the workforce. As the number of caregivers in the United States has grown, so too has the importance of understanding the pressures they face and considering how workplaces can respond.
For employers, these numbers offer an important reminder. The people who come to work each day do not leave the rest of their lives at the door.
When Careers and Caregiving IntersectÂ
At Cohen Milstein, we have been thinking intentionally about what that reality means for our people and our workplace.
In 2023, we launched our Caregiving Committee based on a simple premise: caregiving is not a single event, nor does it take place during one particular phase of a person’s career. Caregiving takes many forms and can have a profound impact on an individual’s wellbeing and professional journey.
The committee was created with two complementary purposes. First, we wanted to provide a supportive, firm-wide space where colleagues can speak candidly about the experience of balancing work with responsibilities for children, aging parents and other loved ones, and share strategies with one another.
Just as importantly, we wanted those conversations to inform how we think about the firm’s policies, practices, and resources so we can better support our colleagues who are also caregivers.
At its heart, our Caregiving Committee is about more than programs or policies. It reflects how we think about our colleagues.
People build careers while building families. They take on new professional responsibilities while helping siblings, partners, and parents face new stages of life. Their circumstances change, sometimes predictably and sometimes overnight. An inclusive and sustainable workplace recognizes these realities.
Turning Conversation into Meaningful SupportÂ
Since its formation, our Caregiving Committee has created opportunities for colleagues to learn from one another and from outside professionals.
Internal panels have brought colleagues together to share their experiences managing childcare and eldercare responsibilities. The committee also leads an in-person conversation at our annual attorney retreat, helping bring caregiving into a broader dialogue about professional life at the firm.
Recognizing that caring for an aging loved one can create significant challenges and questions, the committee partners with a geriatric social worker and case manager to offer a practical seminar on navigating eldercare, a periodic support group, and access to individualized sessions where employees can seek guidance and emotional support for their specific circumstances.
We have also focused on the period when employees go on and return from parental leave – a critical stage for employee well-being and retention. We connect with employees and practice group leaders around best practices to help ease those transitions and build community for employees navigating a new phase.
Each of these efforts reflects something we continue to learn – each caregiving experience is unique, and therefore there is no single solution for supporting caregivers, but connection, community, and providing flexibility where appropriate go a long way.
Continuing to Learn and EvolveÂ
Looking ahead, Cohen Milstein is taking steps to make caregiving support an increasingly intentional and structured part of the employee experience. This includes plans for annual programming addressing both childcare and eldercare, financial education targeted at caregivers’ needs, and continuing to strengthen our communication around our benefits and leave offerings.
We are particularly interested in thinking beyond the period of leave itself. How can we better prepare employees and supervisors before leave begins? How can we support a smoother return? What resources, communication, and practices can help both caregivers and colleagues who work alongside them navigate those transitions successfully?
These are questions without one-size-fits-all answers. But we believe they are questions worth asking.
This National Family Caregivers Month, we recognize the caregivers within our own firm and the millions of people balancing similar responsibilities across the country.
Because when we understand the demands of caregiving, we can build a workplace that helps our people thrive.
About the Authors
Molly Bowen is a partner in Cohen Milstein’s Securities practice and chair of the firm’s Caregiving Committee. Jennifer Frieden is the Director of Human Resources.