What Women Want from Workplace Benefits

Female employees make up the majority of today’s workforce. Give the women in your office the support they need in order to succeed by offering legal insurance.  

What Women Want from Workplace Benefits

Not a romantic comedy, but reality.

As of December 2019, women became the majority of the U.S. labor force, overtaking the number of positions held by any other gender. And in 2021, almost twice as many women joined the workforce than men. The surge in female employment is amazing! But women still face significant challenges that can hinder their success, in addition to the nationwide wage gap.

While we can’t singlehandedly turn a woman’s life around, legal insurance can help give women the support they need in more personal facets of life – from caregiving services to reproductive assistance and more.

Being a caretaker

Caregiving for elderly relatives has historically been a responsibility that women have undertaken. Over 66% of caregivers are female, and women also provide most informal care for spouses, parents, etc. And if you’re a female immigrant or woman of color, your share of caregiving responsibilities is even more disproportionate.

Legal insurance can help reduce the weight that caregiving puts on the shoulders of your female employees.  Coverages they may find especially helpful include services for parents/grandparents, which give their older relatives the ability to meet with a network attorney for their own legal matters or to create personalized estate planning documents. 

Additionally, caregiving services coverage from ARAG can assist members in locating and coordinating eldercare services for parents or grandparents, lessening the burden for your female employees.

Being a partner

Many major conversations go into forming a solid romantic partnership. And women should feel empowered to start these conversations with their significant other. With legal insurance, women can meet with a network attorney to draft a prenuptial agreement or domestic partnership agreement, update a will or start the process of changing their name.

ARAG members also have access to DIY Docs, an online tool that allows them to create legally valid documents in their member portal like a will to indicate how they wish their estate to be distributed, or financial power of attorney to grant authority to someone to handle their financial affairs.

Being a parent

Today, there is no cookie cutter way to start a family. We’re proud to be able to assist women on their individual path. Legal insurance can help your female employees navigate adoption, surrogacy and even more family law matters as their children get older.

As their employer, you may also consider enhancing your time off policies so that women can take the time they need to welcome their newest family member home. And if possible, being able to subsidize daycare costs can go a long way. On average, women spend 10% of their income on daycare/childcare solutions.

Being the household CFO

Gone are the days where the man traditionally controls the checkbook. Not only do women have business to handle at work, but their finances are waiting to be managed once they get home. More  women are also trying to build a nest egg for the future. And while on the surface financial matters may seem like, well, financial matters, there are plenty of ways that legal insurance could be of assistance.

Legal insurance can empower women by helping them navigate taxes, acquire or sell off property, update a deed or help start a trust to establish generational wealth. They can also connect with a tax specialist to help with yearly filing, no matter how many sources of income they have, if you elect to add this to your legal insurance offerings.

You can also retain and recruit outstanding women by looking at your internal retirement and employee plan investment opportunities. How does your 401(k) match compare to similar companies in your industry and area? Have you explored the opportunity to make your business employee-owned? These are all questions that other employers are asking themselves to stand out in the market.

Being a woman

Although women wear many hats, they also deserve to feel supported as human beings who historically encounter unique situations.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, there were over 1.3 million cases of identity theft in 2020. When you offer legal insurance from ARAG, women also have access to identity theft services to help protect them from fraud and even help restore their identity.

Many women were also college students once upon a time. In fact, women graduate from college at a higher rate than men. That means women are more likely to be paying off student loans. Legal insurance can help by providing members with financial planning resources, and a network attorney can even help defend your female employees against consumer scams and debt collectors.

As part of your benefits package, you can also add additional robust benefits like student loan repayment assistance, financial advising or even tuition assistance to empower women to celebrate their education instead of regretting the amount of $$$ it cost.

The future of your company

Because women still make up the labor force’s majority, the way you treat female employees speaks volumes about how you run your business. Stay on the right side of history (herstory, some might say) by putting measures in place to support women at work and off the clock.