Executive Summary
Corporate backup care—employer-sponsored, short-notice care when regular arrangements fall through—has moved into the mainstream.
Employers are expanding care benefits, and a growing share includes in-home solutions aligned with Home Care agencies’ capabilities. The upside is clear: a reliable stream of pre-funded demand, denser caregiver schedules, stronger B2B relationships, and measurable employer ROI—especially in partnerships with scaled programs such as Bright Horizons.
Bright Horizons reports more than one million workdays saved each year for client organizations—a headline outcome you can bring into enterprise conversations.
Source: Bright Horizons — Back-Up Care
How Corporate Backup Care Operates
Employee request: A worker books same to next-day coverage via an employer platform for corporate backup care (e.g., Care.com for Business, Bright Horizons).
Platform dispatch: The platform routes to contracted providers (Home Care agencies, centers, sitters); adults/elders are explicitly covered. Bright Horizons
Agency fulfillment: You match a cleared caregiver, complete the visit, and submit documentation.
Enterprise payment: The employer funds the service through the platform at agreed terms; Bright Horizons attributes >1M workdays saved annually across clients and publishes case outcomes HR teams recognize with it’s corporate backup care program. Bright Horizons
Employees request same or next-day coverage through their employer’s backup-care platform (e.g., Care.com for Business, Bright Horizons). The platform dispatches the case to contracted providers including home care agencies with adult/elder coverage. Your team assigns a cleared caregiver, delivers the visit, and submits standardized documentation. Payment flows from the employer via the platform under agreed terms. Programs like Bright Horizons report 1M+ workdays saved annually, giving HR teams familiar outcomes and giving agencies a turnkey, repeatable channel for high-satisfaction visits that can convert to ongoing private-pay services.
Demand and Growth Benchmarks
With millions of working families and tens of millions of family caregivers, even low single-digit annual utilization translates into millions of backup-care hours, a scalable, B2B demand channel for corporate backup care from Home Care is growing.
(Inference from AARP workload and employer adoption data.)
Child-care market (employer-adjacent)
$65.15B (2024) U.S. market, projected to $109.88B by 2033 (~6% CAGR). Backup care is an expanding slice as employers subsidize coverage.
Source: getkunik.com
Aging demographics
By 2030, roughly 1 in 5 Americans will be 65+. The 85+ population is projected to more than double from 6.5M (2022) to 13.7M (2040)—the cohort most likely to need in-home ADL support.
Sources: Axios, Bright Horizons
Home Care labor & utilization
Nearly 1.4M people work in U.S. home health care, and about 3.0M patients receive home-health services in a year—signaling workforce depth and sustained in-home demand.
Sources: Boost Home Healthcare, CDC
Proven Employer Outcomes
Absence reduction: There are ~30% fewer absences from companies that utilize corporate backup care Programs. Care.com
Workdays saved: >1,000,000 workdays saved annually across Bright Horizons clients that use its corporate backup care solution; individual employers report substantial day-savings in a single year. Bright Horizons
Payroll economics: Independent benchmarking cites unplanned absence = ~6.7% of annual payroll, while the average cost of backup care is <0.1%—a compelling ROI story for HR/Finance. LifecareCorporateCARE Solutions
Retention & sentiment: Caregiver platforms report high favorability 89% of employees view their employer more positively when a corporate backup care solution and benefit support is offered, helping B2B clients win the talent market. Cariloop
Macroeconomic cost of breakdowns: Care interruptions cost U.S. businesses ~$4.4B annually in absenteeism and lost productivity. Corporate backup care directly addresses this. First Five Years FundChild Care Aware® of America
Retention & Sentiment
Caregiver platforms report strong favorability—89% of employees view their employer more positively when caregiver support is offered—helping B2B clients win the talent market.
Source: Cariloop
Business Impact Benchmarks for Home Care Agencies
Schedule density & utilization:
Short, on-demand visits efficiently fill idle gaps, lifting paid hours without long-term caseload risk.Lower CAC & conversion:
Requests arrive pre-funded; agencies frequently convert high-satisfaction backup visits into ongoing private-pay services (platforms increasingly streamline this journey) with solutions like corporate backup care. Care.comEnterprise access in one contract:
Platforms aggregate demand from hundreds of employers; their quantified day-savings help sustain multi-year budgets. Bright HorizonsCompetitive positioning:
Partnering with leaders, like Bright Horizons, raises visibility with top U.S. corporations and standardizes logistics (centralized intake, documentation, SLAs) advantages that compound over time within corporate backup care partnership programs. Bright Horizons
Corporate backup care programs give home care agencies a fast lane to profitable growth. Short, on-demand visits fill idle schedule gaps and boost paid hours without adding long-term caseload risk. Because requests are pre-funded, customer acquisition costs drop and many high-satisfaction backup visits convert into ongoing private-pay services.
Aggregator platforms provide access to hundreds of employers under a single contract, using clear day-savings metrics to sustain multi-year budgets. Partnering with leaders (e.g., Bright Horizons) also elevates brand visibility with major U.S. employers while standardizing intake, documentation, and SLAs advantages that compound over time.
The 3 to 5 Year Look Ahead.
Acceleration of in-home formats:
Employers continue shifting toward flexible at-home coverage for both children and older adults, squarely in Home Care’s wheelhouse. Bright HorizonsBroader adoption of Benefits:
Stipend banks and senior-care support are expanding; BCG finds child-care benefits can return up to 4.25× their cost—fuel for continued investment. Boston Consulting GroupDigital operating model:
Faster response SLAs, integrated credentialing, and API-based documentation will be table stakes—favoring agencies with strong QA and rapid scheduling. (Signal: enterprise platform ROI narratives and SLAs.) Bright Horizons
Broader Adoption
Stipend banks and senior-care support are expanding. Boston Consulting Group finds child-care benefits can return up to 4.25× their cost—clear fuel for continued investment.
Source: Boston Consulting Group
Industry benchmarks.
Employer demand & ROI
Workers with access to employer child-care benefits (all forms): ~12% (backup care = subset; rising from ~6% in 2020). AxiosBright Horizons
Absences decrease with backup/family care benefits: ~30%. Care.com
Average cost comparison: Backup care <0.1% of payroll vs. unplanned absence ~6.7% of payroll. CorporateCARE SolutionsLifecare
Employee sentiment: 89% view their employer more positively when caregiver support is offered. Cariloop
Bright Horizons program impact: >1M workdays saved/year across clients. Bright Horizons
“Savings per 250 employees” benchmark: estimates show ~$75,000/year in avoided lost work time when employers subsidize care—useful for mid-market pitches. HR Daily Advisorbestplace4workingparents.com
Average Cost Comparison (as % of Payroll)
Backup care typically costs <0.1% of payroll, while unplanned absence can reach ~6.7%—a stark delta that favors prevention.
Sources: CorporateCARE Solutions, Lifecare
Average Cost Comparison (as % of Payroll)
Backup care typically costs <0.1% of payroll, while unplanned absence can reach ~6.7%—a stark delta that favors prevention.
Sources: CorporateCARE Solutions, Lifecare
Workforce Realities
Employed family caregivers commonly average ~20 hours/week of care, driving stress and schedule conflicts—making backup options valuable to employers and employees alike. MediaRoom
Employee Sentiment
89% of employees view their employer more positively when caregiver support is offered—translating benefits into brand lift and retention.
Source: Cariloop
Quick Stats
High-impact numbers your clients will remember — rendered at a glance.
30% fewer absences
Family/backup care benefits reduce unplanned time off.
>1M workdays saved/yr
Across Bright Horizons client organizations.
$136B U.S. Home Care • 426,820 providers
Large, distributed supply ready to serve employer demand.
~12% workers have employer child-care benefits
Backup care is a growing subset with headroom for adoption.
<0.1% backup care vs 6.7% unplanned absence
Prevention beats disruption on payroll impact.
~20 hrs/week of care by employed caregivers
An “unpaid part-time job” that benefits from backup care relief.
U.S. child-care market: $65.15B→$109.88B
Growth to 2033 (~6% CAGR) expands the benefit landscape.
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Report Sources
Bright Horizons employer program pages and resources for workdays-saved outcomes. Bright Horizons
Care.com for Business materials & U.S. Chamber of Commerce data on absence reduction. Care.com
AARP and allied research on employed caregiver time commitments. MediaRoom
Grand View Research for U.S. child-care market sizing and growth. getkunik.com
IBISWorld-summarized figures for Home Care market value and provider counts. Aaniie
CDC FastStats for home-health patients/year. CDC
Axios / BCG for employer benefit prevalence and ROI. AxiosBoston Consulting Group
Kronos/SHRM benchmarks on absence cost vs. backup care cost. LifecareCorporateCARE Solutions
Best Place for Working Parents / Early Care & Learning Council for mid-market savings (250-employee) benchmark. bestplace4workingparents.comHR Daily Advisor