Survey: More Than 35 Percent of Parents Believe Their Current or Past Employers Lack Supportive Benefits

PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwired - Dec 6, 2016) - Cognoa, a digital health company leveraging machine learning to help provide parents expert support and answers about their child's development, today announces the results of its 2016 Parent Survey, determining how the workplace is viewed in regards to the level of support for working parents. The survey found many working parents don't feel fully supported, with 44 percent of respondents expressing their current or past employers didn't offer enough parent-friendly benefits.

"In today's world, there are many families where both parents hold full-time careers. Innovations and areas of importance in the workforce are changing, and many employers haven't grown with it," said Brent Vaughan, CEO of Cognoa. "Now, parents expect modern care and benefits from their workplace, and the employers not offering progressive options, focused on balancing work and family life, are missing out on a major talent pool."

When it comes to monitoring the health of their young children under five, 40 to 55 percent of parents who use Cognoa are at least mildly concerned their behavioral development is not on track. The survey also found that more than 62 percent of parents would utilize offerings through their employer's insurance allowing them to track their children's development. With the pressures of a career often making work-life balance difficult, parents are looking for additional methods to ensure their child is on track, even when they're not physically present. 

Cognoa recently launched Cognoa for Employers, providing parents with direct access to its clinically validated child behavioral development platform. These benefits provide peace of mind and lower healthcare costs through the early detection of developmental delays in children. 

"Our survey showed working parents are looking for opportunities in the workplace benefitting their families' health while they're pursuing their careers," continues Vaughan. "Not only do these benefits help employees feel supported in parenthood, but they also provide an opportunity for employers to substantiate their culture, boost morale and reduce absenteeism. It's incredibly important for business owners to know their options and understand what their employees need when it comes to wellness initiatives."

Additional Findings
The study also looked into the development levels of the respondents' children, as well as the relationship between parenting and working full-time:

• More than 58 percent of parents who work or study away from home believe their absence has an effect on their child's development
• More than half of working parents miss work at least once a month for their child
• 37 percent of respondents have children that have been diagnosed with a developmental delay or disorder
  
  

Methodology
Cognoa launched the study via SurveyMonkey and surveyed 100 U.S. parents from its database about balancing parenting and the workplace, and resources available to monitor and track their child's development. Respondents ranged from age 18 to 74 with 97 percent being female, 67 percent employed or studying, and 64 percent millennial. The study asked questions across a variety of topics, including the status of parent-friendly benefits in the workplace.

Cognoa for Employers' easily fits into current healthcare platforms. To learn more, please visit https://www.cognoa.com/employers.

About Cognoa:
Cognoa is a digital health company that is changing how parents understand and support their child's development and how employers improve the lives of their parent employees. Already one of the largest screeners of children's development, Cognoa gives parents peace of mind by identifying where a child is on track and what parents can do to help the child improve. Cognoa's Harvard-developed evaluation has been used by more than 250,000 parents and has been validated in multiple scientific and clinical studies. It is based on more than five years of clinical research and validation studies led by Dennis Wall, PhD, at prominent institutions including Harvard Medical School and Stanford Medical School.

Cognoa hopes to help parents take a more active role in supporting their child's development by offering valuable tools for understanding and improving cognitive and behavioral development as early as possible and to make the best choices going forward.