Most employees don't feel their workplace benefits were built for their life. A new Prudential Financial study puts a number on that disconnect: 89 percent of employers believe their benefits package shows they care about their employees, but only 66 percent of employees agree.
That 23-percentage-point gap is the central finding of the third installment of Prudential's 2026 Benefits & Beyond study, which surveyed 3,096 full-time US employees and 760 employers via national online surveys conducted in January.
The gap is not a fixed condition. When employees believe their benefits address the real challenges they currently face, the care-perception gap shrinks from 23 percentage points to just eight. The benefit offering doesn't change. What changes is whether it lands on something the employee actually needs right now.
That finding sits alongside a second, related one: 85 percent of employers believe their benefits package helps employees meet life's challenges at any stage, while just 64 percent of employees agree. Cost, complexity, and misalignment with where employees actually are in their lives explain the difference, not a lack of coverage.
"Employees don't necessarily want more benefits," said Bianka Douglas, vice president and people business leader at Prudential Group Insurance in Newark, New Jersey. "They want help finding the benefits that matter most to them. When benefits feel more relevant and easier to use, employees are more confident in their decisions and more connected to their workplace."
The barriers run deepest for employees under financial pressure. Women, those earning less than $100,000 a year, and those living paycheck to paycheck are all more likely to say their benefits aren't meeting the challenges they face. For that segment, the problem isn't a lack of coverage. Cost is the barrier: 44 percent of employees who say their benefits fall short point to high premiums, high deductibles, and out-of-pocket expenses as the reasons.
That employer-employee gap is also where the study's second major finding becomes practically useful for brokers. Rather than sorting employees by generation alone, Prudential introduced a household profile segmentation across six life-stage categories: solo, partnered, young kids, teens, launch age, and empty nest. The result is a sharper picture of who engages with benefits and why.
Employees with young children and teenagers are consistently the most engaged group. They are more likely to say their benefits help them manage life challenges, with 69 to 72 percent agreeing versus 64 percent overall. They are more likely to stay with an employer that offers a strong benefits package, at 72 to 77 percent versus 64 percent. At enrollment, 45 to 46 percent describe themselves as confident in making benefits decisions, against 38 percent for all employees.
The contrast at the other end of the spectrum is instructive. Empty nester and launch-age employees are the most likely to approach enrollment feeling frustrated. Those groups carry different financial pressures and coverage priorities, and a program built around a single demographic assumption cannot reach that variation.
The enrollment confidence data cuts across all life stages. One in five employees approaches benefits enrollment feeling overwhelmed, and only 38 percent describe themselves as confident. More than half say they are very or extremely interested in benefit decision-support tools. The same proportion wants benefits designed for their specific household profile.
Yet 58 percent of employees say they would use AI to help with benefits decisions, while only 24 percent currently do. That gap between interest and action is an education and access problem, and one brokers can help clients address.
"Life is full of milestones, transitions, and unexpected moments, and benefits should be designed with that reality in mind," said Michael Estep, president of Prudential Group Insurance in Newark, New Jersey. "As people's needs evolve, employers have an opportunity to provide support that feels more relevant and, in return, build a more connected and loyal workforce."
For benefits brokers, the Prudential research makes a concrete case. Clients are spending on benefits that a large share of their workforce experiences as either unaffordable, hard to use, or out of step with their current life stage. The gap between employer intent and employee experience is not primarily a product problem - it is a design, communication, and personalization problem. Closing it has a measurable effect on how employees judge their employer's culture.
