Editor’s Note: This article is part of a series on benefits in job postings, including a deep dive into each specific benefit type. Find more about overall benefits here, retirement benefits here, medical/insurance benefits here, and leave-related benefits here.
Key points:
- Family-related benefits were mentioned in just 7% of all job postings on Indeed in May, up from 2.5% in January 2020.
- The software development sector had the highest share of postings advertising a family-related benefit in May, at 12%.
- Generic parental leave is more than twice as common (appearing in 5.3% of postings) as paid parental leave (2.7%).
Mentions of employer-paid, family-related benefits — including parental leave, adoption assistance, and bereavement or family leave — are far from the norm in US job postings. Although the share of postings with at least one family-related benefit has more than doubled since January 2020, they still made up only 7% of all advertised postings in May 2024.
Among family-related benefits offered by employers, parental leave is by far the most common. This analysis sought to identify the prevalence of a handful of family-related benefits, but outside of parental leave, the remaining benefits combined — adoption assistance, and family and bereavement leave — appear in just 3% of total postings.
Of course, a job posting can mention more than one family-related benefit. While the chart shows the share of postings that mention at least that one benefit, it’s likely at least some postings will include more than one — hence why the individual shares in the table below will add up to more than the total 7% share of postings in which any single family-related benefit may appear.
Family benefits by sector
Family benefits are not as common as retirement, paid time off, and/or medical benefits. Job seekers across market sectors and segments may not expect an employer to offer these kinds of benefits in the same way they may assume things like health insurance or a 401(k) will be offered. This means that companies that do offer these benefits may have more to gain by standing out from the crowd when it comes time to attract candidates by overtly mentioning these perks in their job postings.
Roughly 1-in-8 job postings in the software development sector advertised family benefits in May, the highest among all sectors analyzed. This is perhaps unsurprising, given that almost half (48%) of workers in high-wage jobs (like software development) have access to parental leave (paid or unpaid), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Still, with just 12% of postings advertising a family benefit, even the famously benefit-happy tech sector has a long way to go in normalizing these kinds of perks.
Parental leave accounts for the majority of family-related benefits advertised, but is rarely advertised as paid
Among parental leave benefits, leave without mentioning pay is advertised in job postings at almost twice the rate as paid parental leave: 5.3% of postings mention generic parental leave, compared to 2.7% that mention paid parental leave. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 27% of private sector workers have access to some form of paid parental leave, but there is limited data available on how much leave is given and how generous pay is (or is not) in these cases. Paid leave offerings range from a few weeks to several months, and tracking growth in the length of time offered and the amount of pay offered is difficult. Still, if a company offers paid parental leave packages, it could go a long way in convincing job seekers to apply.
Conclusion
Among advanced economies, the US is an outlier in its parental leave policies. Federal law guarantees twelve weeks of unpaid leave, but only for certain workers, and many job seekers may be looking to employers to cover the gaps. But given the rarity of family-related perks in advertised postings, it’s likely few can rely on employer-sponsored leave, be it paid or unpaid. However, that rarity itself could make the benefits a particularly powerful recruiting tool in many sectors when they are offered. If you’re a recruiter for a company with a family benefit, highlighting that perk in a posting is very likely going to set you apart from the crowd.
Methodology
We track benefits by tallying US job postings on Indeed that mention at least one benefit in the job posting as of May 2024. Data is not adjusted for seasonality. Overall benefit calculation is limited to one benefit per job posting, while the share of postings by benefit type is limited to one job posting per benefit type. As such, aggregations by benefit type can exceed the share of overall postings for that benefit, as a job posting can include more than one benefit type.
The number of job postings on Indeed.com, whether related to paid or unpaid job solicitations, is not indicative of potential revenue or earnings of Indeed, which comprises a significant percentage of the HR Technology segment of its parent company, Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. Job posting numbers are provided for information purposes only and should not be viewed as an indicator of the performance of Indeed or Recruit. Please refer to the Recruit Holdings investor relations website and regulatory filings in Japan for more detailed information on revenue generation by Recruit’s HR Technology segment.