Problem
1 in 5
mid-career women cite caring responsibilities as a reason they've considered leaving the workforce
Source: MFI 2026, n=3,200
Retaining talent through life's pressure points
Losing your best people at the exact moment they're worth the most?
Care responsibilities are one of the biggest drivers of regretted attrition — and they peak at parental leave, return-to-work, and mid-career caregiving, just as people reach the top of their value. It rarely shows up in an exit interview. It shows up in the quiet exits you could have prevented. There's a fix, and the business case writes itself.
About this problem
Cost
£30k+
typical cost to replace a single skilled mid-career employee, before lost knowledge is counted
Source: MFI 2026, n=3,200
Solution
94%
retention of parents with employer-sponsored childcare through the under-5s years
Source: MFI 2026, n=3,200
Why this shows up in retention data, not exit interviews
Across our 400+ UK clients, the pattern repeats. People rarely resign because of a single bad day with childcare or a caring crisis — they drift. A return from parental leave that wasn't supported. A sandwich-generation squeeze with no one to turn to. A SEND diagnosis and nowhere to get trusted answers. None of it lands cleanly in an exit interview, so it reads as "personal reasons" and the real cause stays invisible.
The talent you lose this way is your most expensive to lose: experienced, mid-career, and disproportionately women. Support people through these pressure points and you protect institutional knowledge, keep progression on track, and turn one of the hardest workforce levers into one of the most predictable.
Why this shows up in retention data, not exit interviews
Across our 400+ UK clients, the pattern repeats. People rarely resign because of a single bad day with childcare or a caring crisis — they drift. A return from parental leave that wasn't supported. A sandwich-generation squeeze with no one to turn to. A SEND diagnosis and nowhere to get trusted answers. None of it lands cleanly in an exit interview, so it reads as "personal reasons" and the real cause stays invisible.
The talent you lose this way is your most expensive to lose: experienced, mid-career, and disproportionately women. Support people through these pressure points and you protect institutional knowledge, keep progression on track, and turn one of the hardest workforce levers into one of the most predictable.
Solutions matched to this challenge
When everyday childcare falls through
Back-Up Care
Same-day, vetted cover when the nursery closes, the childminder cancels, or a child is too poorly for school. Your people stay focused. You don't lose the day.
89% used it to avoid taking a day off
When nursery costs push parents out
Employer-Sponsored Childcare
Subsidised, high-quality nursery places your people can actually afford and genuinely trust. The single strongest signal that you take working parents seriously.
89% used it to avoid taking a day off
How a similar organisation solved this
Citi
Financial Services / 12,000 employees ● 5 min read
A FTSE 100 bank stopped losing returners. The lever was childcare, not policy.
Three years in, attrition among new parents is down 41% and engagement scores are up across the board. Here's what changed — and what didn't.
224% ROI in year one
Marsh
Legal / 800 employees ● 5 min read
“We were haemorrhaging mid-level associates. Back-up care was the turning point."
A Magic Circle firm explains why same-day cover did what flexible working policies couldn't — and how they made the business case in a single quarter.
224% ROI in year one
Get in touch
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Other challenges
Reducing absence & presenteeism
Supporting parental leave return
Eldercare & broader caring
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