Employers that treat health, caregiving and retirement benefits as separate concerns risk missing how those risks compound, according to a Marsh analysis of a World Economic Forum (WEF) report on longevity.
Marsh published the commentary Thursday on its US health news page, drawing on The Longevity Dividend: The Business Case for Linking Health and Wealth. The WEF released the report, which Marsh helped develop, in June. It analyzes 21 countries rather than the US alone, but Marsh said its core point is relevant to American employers: health and financial well-being tend to move in sync and intersect over time.
“For benefits leaders, the implication is clear: caregiving support belongs closer to the center of benefits strategy, not the margins,” the commentary said.
The report finds a five-year caregiving break early in a career can reduce retirement savings by 29%, according to Marsh. One year of caregiving, combined with the gender pay gap, can cut a woman’s retirement savings by an average of 24%, the WEF said. The report also found the gender retirement savings gap exceeds 50% in some countries.
It calls on employers to redesign benefits for the longevity economy, including dedicated leave for caregiving and doctor’s appointments and return-to-work opportunities for caregivers who have left the workforce.
The US caregiving population is large. AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving counted 63 million family caregivers in 2025, a 45% increase since 2015. They said seven in 10 working-age caregivers are employed and half report a negative financial impact.
Employer response is uneven. Care.com’s CareBenefits 2026 Future of Benefits Report found 53% of employees have missed work because of caregiving challenges, 24% have considered leaving the workforce and 23% have left a job for an employer with better family care benefits. It also found employers are six times more likely to be expanding caregiving benefits than reducing them, and that while 39% of employers report offering child care benefits, only 22% of employees are aware of them. Separately, Prudential’s 2025 study found only 52% of employers offer paid caregiving leave.
The WEF identifies three low-tech interventions that it says could save health systems more than $5.8 trillion and unlock $645 billion in productivity by 2040.: fall-proofing homes, raising physical activity and expanding hearing aid use. A summary of the report said home safety retrofits alone could prevent nearly 400 million falls globally by 2040. Marsh said their value extends beyond direct health effects: preventing falls can reduce care needs, physical activity can lower diabetes-related costs, and wider hearing aid use can help delay dementia, easing pressure on families and caregivers.
Ageism is another theme. The report links age-related workplace barriers to poorer health outcomes, longer unemployment for older adults and large productivity losses. The head of Marsh’s People and Investments business has written that workplace ageism will cost the global economy $500 billion by 2040. The report highlights multigenerational teams, workplace flexibility and systems that support more gradual transitions later in working life.
“Longevity is not about getting old,” said Haleh Nazeri, the WEF’s lead for the longevity economy, when the report was released at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions in China.
Marsh also framed longevity as a benefits equity issue, noting that women are more likely to provide unpaid care, earn less over time and face greater financial vulnerability in older age. “Employers that look at caregiving, retirement savings and health support separately may miss how strongly those risks compound,” the commentary said.
“Longevity is not only about aging. It is about the long interaction between health, work and financial security,” it added.
The commentary concluded: “For benefits professionals, that is the real takeaway. Benefits built for shorter and simpler careers may not match the workforce ahead. The organizations that adjust earlier will be better positioned to support both employee well-being and long-term business performance.”
