In boardrooms across America a silent epidemic is unfolding. It’s not merely about profits or market shifts. It concerns something far more personal: caregiving. Chanel T. Rowe, Esq., Senior Counsel at Johnson & Johnson, legal savant and fierce advocate for workplace equity, brings this under-examined reality into sharp relief.
She blends legal insight with lived experience in her new book Finding Balance: A Devotional to Help Caregivers Move from Suffering to Strength. She is caregiver to her mother who battles a rare blood disease. Her mission is clear: caregiving must stop being a private burden and become a central concern for corporate policy.
The numbers are compelling. Nearly 30 percent of the U.S. workforce has caregiving responsibilities—over 53 million people. Of those, 61 percent are working full- or part-time. Even from those already stretched thin, 67 percent report difficulty balancing job and caregiving duties. Nearly one in four has cut hours or switched from full- to part-time. Meanwhile 42 percent see their careers stagnate through lost promotions or hidden bias. Most working caregivers expect help—78 percent believe employers should offer benefits or caregiving-friendly policies. And yet so much of this labor lies invisible. Economists estimate unpaid caregiving contributes over $600 billion a year. These trends are more than human interest stories; they are structural workforce risks.
The law already requires certain protections. Under the Family and Medical Leave Act eligible employees must receive unpaid, job-protected leave for serious medical conditions or to care for ill family members. The Americans with Disabilities Act provides protections related to association with disabled persons. Add to that state laws mandating paid family leave or expanded leave protections beyond federal minimums and the legal stakes grow even higher. When employers neglect these obligations or allow discriminatory treatment they face litigation risk, regulatory scrutiny, and reputational damage.
The impact on companies is far from theoretical. Absenteeism and presenteeism rise when employees juggle work and caregiving. Turnover increases, drain on institutional knowledge follows. Employer support isn’t just virtue, it is bottom-line. Companies who commit to caregiver support—flexible scheduling, paid leave, management training, caregiver navigator services—reduce turnover and improve morale while maintaining productivity. Leaders who imagine that caregiving is someone else’s problem are leaving risk and talent on the table.
Few voices combine legal authority, corporate leadership and the lived experience of caregiving. Chanel’s background—serving at the SEC, founding her own firm, advising on corporate governance, serving on the FIU Board of Trustees—gives her rare insight into both legal obligations and organizational change. Her book Finding Balance is not prescription alone. It is witness: to strength, to struggle, to the necessity of creating workplace cultures where caregiving is recognized.
In her work, Chanel Rowe reminds us that caregiving is not an occasional inconvenience. It is a constant, under-valued labor that shapes lives and careers. When corporate leaders engage with caregiving as central, not peripheral, they unlock not only legal and financial resilience—they honor humanity. The time for silence has passed. It is past time to act.
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