Why People Hide Caregiving Responsibilities to their Bosses
It is a big secret that new research has uncovered: Employees who care for a child or adult often feel they must conceal this part of their lives at work.
A recent article in Employee Benefit News highlights this uncomfortable reality. According to survey data cited in the article, only 8% of employees feel comfortable discussing caregiving responsibilities with HR, while 20% actively conceal those responsibilities out of fear that they will be perceived as less committed to their jobs (Employee Benefit News, 2026).
Many people who have worked inside large organizations admit these numbers are not surprising.
Why Single Moms & Other Caregivers Hide This Responsibility
Jonna Hitchcock has more than 20 years of experience in human resources and leadership roles and is currently an intern with Prasad Counseling and Training. She says that even in companies with supportive policies, employees may hesitate to share caregiving challenges.
“In HR, you often see employees quietly trying to manage real family responsibilities in the background,” Hitchcock says. “Even when organizations offer flexibility, people may worry that admitting stress or scheduling conflicts could affect how their commitment is viewed.”
Hitchcock also speaks from personal experience. In 2001, she was a single mother by choice working in an executive-level role in the IT industry at Cisco Systems. As the sole breadwinner for her family, maintaining her job was essential.
“At that time, I didn’t feel comfortable sharing much about the stress I was juggling,” she says. “Pediatrician appointments, childcare cancellations, and everyday parenting emergencies were constant logistical challenges. Because my income supported our entire household, I felt pressure to expose as little of my personal life as possible at work.”
Like many working parents, she tried to keep her personal responsibilities and caregiving stress largely invisible. But that kind of concealment can carry psychological consequences. The Employee Benefit News article notes that caregiving is far more common than many employers realize: about 63 million
The Additional Burden of Hiding Caregiving Stress
Americans serve as caregivers, and roughly 70% of them are also in the workforce (Employee Benefit News, 2026).
From a psychological perspective, hiding caregiving stress and responsibilities can create significant emotional strain. When people feel they must separate their professional identity from a major part of their personal life, it can lead to chronic stress, anxiety, and feelings of isolation.
As Hitchcock explains from her counseling training, “When someone feels they have to manage two demanding roles but can’t acknowledge one of them openly, the emotional load becomes much heavier.”
Ironically, Hitchcock eventually discovered that openness could sometimes strengthen workplace relationships. When she began sharing more about her circumstances, other employees revealed they were navigating similar challenges.
“People in the same situation started coming out of the woodwork,” she says. “Many of them actually wanted to work on my team because they knew I understood what they were juggling.”
Over time, her group became a team largely composed of working mothers.
“We ended up with some of our best employees,” Hitchcock recalls. “We worked incredibly hard because we were a team of working parents who had a point to prove—and a paycheck to bring home.”
Widespread Effects of Caregiving Roles
Experiences like this highlight an important lesson for organizations: caregiving is not a niche issue. It is a widespread reality that intersects with workplace culture, employee wellbeing, and mental health.
Today, Hitchcock brings both her HR background and her counseling training to conversations about stress, caregiving, and life transitions. She is currently completing her counseling internship with Prasad Counseling and Training and is seeing clients at a reduced rate through May 15, 2026.
In addition, she is part of a team of clinicians offering Group Counseling every other week. Carroll Prasad, LPC-S and Thomas Fryar, LPC-A, lead these groups. “Group is the secret ingredient,” says Prasad. “Being in a room getting support, feedback and guidance without the fear of revealing yourself can be empowering, liberating and therapeutic.”
For individuals struggling with caregiving stress or life transitions, support can make a meaningful difference—and no one should feel they have to carry those challenges alone.
For support and counseling options, contact Prasad Counseling and Training for a variety of individual and group therapy solutions.
