95% of Employees Value Bereavement Benefits, New Data Reveals Critical Gaps During Life's Most Disruptive Moments

Empathy, the technology company transforming how the world plans for and navigates life’s hardest moments, today released its 2026 Workplace Benefits Report. The new research reveals how workplace benefits are falling short during life’s most disruptive moments. While many employers plan to expand offerings and investment in 2026, the report finds benefit strategies often struggle to deliver measurable impact, with current benefits underperforming, driving low utilization, and misalignment among employees and HR leaders alike. It spotlights a critical shift: benefits success is now defined by support during major life events, with bereavement care as the clearest, most urgent opportunity to boost utilization, and real-time impact while improving alignment for both employers and employees. In fact, 84% of employers say they plan to expand bereavement support this year, while 95% of employees say bereavement-related benefits are valuable to them.

“From this research, it’s clear that employers have a unique opportunity to create benefit programs that meaningfully support employees during life’s most disruptive moments,” said Ron Gura, Co-Founder & CEO, Empathy. “Bereavement stands out as the clearest, most urgent entry point, not just as a fringe benefit, but as a core example of how employers can move beyond more generic offerings toward more relevant yet comprehensive support.”

Key Findings Highlight The Benefits Alignment Gap

The 2026 Workplace Benefits Report reveals widespread sentiment among employers and employees that current benefits often fail to meet real-life needs and lived experiences:

• 80% of employers expect benefits budgets to increase in 2026, but most increases are modest, driving greater selectivity and focus on outcomes.
• Employers are clear about the problems they want benefits to address, with 34% wanting to improve employee wellbeing and 30% wanting to provide competitive benefits packages.
• 60% of employers, and more than half (52%) of employees, believe that existing benefits are only somewhat or not at all aligned with current needs, highlighting a clear gap between investment and potential impact.
• Utilization and understanding of benefits remain a challenge, with employees citing difficulty understanding benefits (27%), accessing information (23%), and navigating complexity (23%) highlighting why benefits often fail at the moment of need.
• Employers and employees are aligned on where benefits should expand in 2026: mental health, financial wellness, flexibility, and life-event support.
• Nearly half of employees (46%) expecting formal employer support during major disruptions. At the same time, nearly 1 in 3 employers say supporting employees through major life events is a top challenge.
• 95% of employees value bereavement-related benefits, with those who experienced a major life-event or disruption in the past two years, such as the death of a loved one, serious illness, caregiving, or pregnancy loss, over 1.5× more likely to identify bereavement and grief support as one of their biggest unmet benefits needs.
• 84% of employers say they are planning to expand bereavement support in the coming year.

Life events bring forth significant emotional, physical, and financial disruptions that impact all areas of life, including work. These moments serve as the organizing principle for effective benefits design, because they allow employers to support employees in times of real need. By centering offerings around critical events across the employee journey like bereavement, caregiving, serious illness and other major life transitions, employers can boost employee engagement, retention and overall performance, while building greater confidence in their employee programs. This shift redefines benefits not as static transactions, but as dynamic expressions of care that evolve with employees’ real lives, strengthening both organizational readiness and long-term resilience.

To read the full 2026 Workplace Benefits Report and all its findings, visit empathy.com.

ABOUT EMPATHY

Empathy is a leading technology company transforming the way people plan for and navigate life’s toughest moments. Serving tens of millions of policyholders across North America and the UK, Empathy partners with eight of the top ten U.S. life insurance carriers and handles one in five life insurance claims in the U.S. beyond the payout. With $162 million in funding from top-tier venture firms including Index Ventures, General Catalyst, and Adams Street Partners, Empathy combines technological innovation with compassion to provide unparalleled support for bereavement, estate management, legacy planning, disability and more. Recognized by Apple, Google Play, Fast Company and others, Empathy is redefining the standard for modern care. Learn more at empathy.com.

ABOUT THE WORKPLACE BENEFITS SURVEY

Empathy’s 2026 Workplace Benefits Report was developed in partnership with Censuswide. The findings are based on two online surveys conducted between December 8–18, 2025, using anonymous responses from adults aged 18 and over across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The first survey collected responses from 4,001 employees who received a benefits package beyond what is legally required and who indicated full access to those benefits. The second survey collected responses from 1,502 employers who are decision-makers responsible for employee benefits within their organizations, including approximately 500 employers in each of the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

This research is the first out of four chapters as part of Empathy’s fifth annual Grief Tax report, and was designed to capture the perspectives, expectations, and lived experiences of both employees and employers regarding workplace benefits, with a specific focus on support during major life events.

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"Bereavement stands out as the clearest, most urgent entry point, not just as a fringe benefit, but as a core example of how employers can move beyond more generic offerings toward more relevant yet comprehensive support."