Employee benefits provider Unum has a new benefit for its own employees: increased adoption assistance. Starting this month, the company will provide employees who adopt a child a one-time benefit of $25,000 to help pay for the cost.
“Adoption is an important avenue to consider for people growing their families, but it can be expensive,” said Liz Ahmed, executive vice president of People and Communications. “Offering financial support to employees expanding their families is another way we can help working parents thrive.”
The average cost of adoption from foster care is $2,500.
Private domestic and international adoptions average upwards of $43,000, according to Adoptive Families Magazine’s Adoption Cost and Timing Survey. These don’t include lost wages from work to bond with the child once adopted.
“This benefit may move the needle for people considering adoption and make it a possibility,” said Scott Hagie, who used Unum’s $5,000 adoption benefit in 2019 to welcome two-year-old Charlotte into his family.
In 2018, Unum increased its infertility benefit to $25,000 for employees who have difficulty conceiving. It also introduced six weeks of paid parental leave for new parents after the birth, adoption or foster of a child.
"Other resources for working parents include: flexible working policies; dedicated lactation rooms at home offices; Milk Stork services for mothers traveling for business; a simplified tool to help new parents plan for parental leave called LeaveLogic; a Working Parents Network; a pre-tax childcare savings accounts and 529 education plan contributions; competitive paid time off policy; and student debt relief program to help pay for kids’ education," officials said.