Care.com Debuts Employer-Based Spending Accounts

Care.com has introduced a spending account to help workers cover the cost of care.

The new accounts, announced Wednesday (May 22), are designed to give employers a solution to support employees who need to pay for care for children, seniors, pets or themselves.

“Conversations about the cost of care have moved from the living room to the conference room,” said Brad Wilson, Care.com’s chief executive.

“Across industries employers are looking for ways to make care more accessible and affordable for their employees and they are looking for holistic solutions that allow them to support their full workforce,” Wilson added. “The introduction of the Care Spending Account product is a natural expansion of our suite of family care benefits, among the most comprehensive in the industry.”

According to a company news release, the Care Spending Account allows employers to make a monthly or annual lump sum contribution to each employee’s care expenses. Employers will have the choice to determine which categories of care are covered by the account funds.

“The development of this new product reflects the growing recognition that working families cannot function without care and the growing reality that they are looking to their employers for help shouldering the costs,” the release said.

The news comes as healthcare costs continue to add pressure to the lives of half the country’s population, according to research from PYMNTS Intelligence.

Those findings show “that it’s not uncommon for women on the lower end of the earnings spectrum to bypass prescribed medical screening guidelines due to the costs of those procedures,” PYMNTS wrote recently. “We also found low-income earners occasionally cancel medical appointments because the funds that were set aside to cover the cost of a co-pay had to be used to buy groceries instead.”

Meanwhile, additional research by PYMNTS shows just how pinched consumers are feeling, with many of them still working a side job to make ends meet even as inflation declines.

According to the latest PYMNTS Intelligence Paycheck-to-Paycheck Report, “High-Income Consumers Lead Surprising New Data on Side Hustles,” 30% of consumers who now earn extra money on the side said losing that added income would have a very or extremely negative affect on their financial stability.

“But it’s not just those struggling who are feeling a pinch right now,” PYMNTS wrote. “The report determined that 26% of high-income earners (those making more than $100,000 each year) sought out extra income in recent months.”