As we progress into 2025, leading employers are looking to make their employee experience the most competitive it can be. They are also navigating a landscape of budget controls. Could family-friendly benefits be the key to unlocking both engagement and cost savings?

The latest research from Bright Horizons, released in January 2025, reveals clear and compelling trends. Among 3,000 randomly selected UK working parents and carers, there is high stress, coupled with a perception that employers care less about family than they did immediately after the pandemic. Employees with family responsibilities experience frequent care breakdowns and – without other options – they turn to short-notice annual leave or even sick leave as cover.

Register now

All this is costly for employers in talent retention, productivity, wellbeing and career progression.

On the positive side, the findings reveal the best support to encourage and empower office presence and the value of providing support for adult dependants – and even pets – as well as childcare. There are actionable insights for better gender representation in the research too: women find it harder to progress their careers while working flexibly than men do and fathers find their work affected by care breakdowns at least as often as mothers.

This Personnel Today webinar, in association with Bright Horizons, lifts the lid on the key trends among working parents and carers and looks in detail at how employers and line managers can respond and remove the barriers for these employees.

Personnel Today editor Rob Moss is joined by Jennifer Liston-Smith, head of thought leadership at Bright Horizons, and a second panellist who will be announced shortly.

Register now to:

• Learn evidence-based insights into what working parents and carers need and how they define an employer of choice.
• Understand how the tide has turned since the post-pandemic focus on family life and the critical choices we have in 2025 to protect employee wellbeing.
• Know in detail the business case for family support and why it matters.
• Take action with practical tips to retain your talented workforce, fuel their productivity and support their wellbeing.

This free 45 to 60-minute webinar will include a live audience Q&A session.

Reserve your place on the webinar now

About our speaker

Jennifer Liston-Smith is head of thought leadership at Bright Horizons. She set up and for a decade led the coaching and consultancy side of what became Bright Horizons Work and Family Solutions, advising employers on programmes for working parents and carers and evaluating their impact and ROI, as well as developing coaches and coaching capability. Jennifer now focuses on identifying overarching trends through research and through advising employers and translating these insights into solutions and practical actions.

 

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required) OptOut From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.PhoneThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );

/* = 0;if(!is_postback){return;}var form_content = jQuery(this).contents().find('#gform_wrapper_129');var is_confirmation = jQuery(this).contents().find('#gform_confirmation_wrapper_129').length > 0;var is_redirect = contents.indexOf('gformRedirect(){') >= 0;var is_form = form_content.length > 0 && ! is_redirect && ! is_confirmation;var mt = parseInt(jQuery('html').css('margin-top'), 10) + parseInt(jQuery('body').css('margin-top'), 10) + 100;if(is_form){jQuery('#gform_wrapper_129').html(form_content.html());if(form_content.hasClass('gform_validation_error')){jQuery('#gform_wrapper_129').addClass('gform_validation_error');} else {jQuery('#gform_wrapper_129').removeClass('gform_validation_error');}setTimeout( function() { /* delay the scroll by 50 milliseconds to fix a bug in chrome */ }, 50 );if(window['gformInitDatepicker']) {gformInitDatepicker();}if(window['gformInitPriceFields']) {gformInitPriceFields();}var current_page = jQuery('#gform_source_page_number_129').val();gformInitSpinner( 129, 'https://www.personneltoday.com/wp-content/plugins/gravityforms/images/spinner.svg', true );jQuery(document).trigger('gform_page_loaded', [129, current_page]);window['gf_submitting_129'] = false;}else if(!is_redirect){var confirmation_content = jQuery(this).contents().find('.GF_AJAX_POSTBACK').html();if(!confirmation_content){confirmation_content = contents;}jQuery('#gform_wrapper_129').replaceWith(confirmation_content);jQuery(document).trigger('gform_confirmation_loaded', [129]);window['gf_submitting_129'] = false;wp.a11y.speak(jQuery('#gform_confirmation_message_129').text());}else{jQuery('#gform_129').append(contents);if(window['gformRedirect']) {gformRedirect();}}jQuery(document).trigger("gform_pre_post_render", [{ formId: "129", currentPage: "current_page", abort: function() { this.preventDefault(); } }]); if (event && event.defaultPrevented) { return; } const gformWrapperDiv = document.getElementById( "gform_wrapper_129" ); if ( gformWrapperDiv ) { const visibilitySpan = document.createElement( "span" ); visibilitySpan.id = "gform_visibility_test_129"; gformWrapperDiv.insertAdjacentElement( "afterend", visibilitySpan ); } const visibilityTestDiv = document.getElementById( "gform_visibility_test_129" ); let postRenderFired = false; function triggerPostRender() { if ( postRenderFired ) { return; } postRenderFired = true; jQuery( document ).trigger( 'gform_post_render', [129, current_page] ); gform.utils.trigger( { event: 'gform/postRender', native: false, data: { formId: 129, currentPage: current_page } } ); if ( visibilityTestDiv ) { visibilityTestDiv.parentNode.removeChild( visibilityTestDiv ); } } function debounce( func, wait, immediate ) { var timeout; return function() { var context = this, args = arguments; var later = function() { timeout = null; if ( !immediate ) func.apply( context, args ); }; var callNow = immediate && !timeout; clearTimeout( timeout ); timeout = setTimeout( later, wait ); if ( callNow ) func.apply( context, args ); }; } const debouncedTriggerPostRender = debounce( function() { triggerPostRender(); }, 200 ); if ( visibilityTestDiv && visibilityTestDiv.offsetParent === null ) { const observer = new MutationObserver( ( mutations ) => { mutations.forEach( ( mutation ) => { if ( mutation.type === 'attributes' && visibilityTestDiv.offsetParent !== null ) { debouncedTriggerPostRender(); observer.disconnect(); } }); }); observer.observe( document.body, { attributes: true, childList: false, subtree: true, attributeFilter: [ 'style', 'class' ], }); } else { triggerPostRender(); } } );} ); /* ]]> */