AUSTIN, Texas & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Care.com, the world’s largest online platform for finding and managing family care, and Stride Health, the only benefits platform built for independent workers, have joined forces to provide caregivers access to personalized affordable benefit plans. Via Stride’s portable benefits platform, caregivers using Care.com can customize and select health insurance and dental and vision benefits. The service, which is a resumption and expansion of a program originally launched by the two companies in 2016, launched at the start of the 2024 open enrollment period on November 1, 2023 and will run through December 15, 2023 when open enrollment ends.
In-home caregivers, which include nannies, babysitters, and senior care aides, comprise a significant portion of the overall care workforce, which enables families to work, driving overall economic growth. For childcare alone, Care.com’s 2023 Cost of Care Survey reported that 30 percent of American families rely on nannies, a number which is expected to rise as more daycares close due to recently lapsed Federal funding. Yet despite the critical role caregivers play in society, they lack the fundamental benefits typically offered in professional workplaces.
In making the announcement, Naaz Nichols, Care.com’s Chief Customer Experience Officer, said, “Our society cannot function without the work performed by care providers yet they are expected to work without the safety net of benefits most of us take for granted. By joining forces with Stride, we are making sure that this critical workforce has access to affordable comprehensive benefit plans that support their families just as they do ours.”
In addition to affordable health, dental and vision coverage, users of the Stride platform will be able to: easily see if they qualify for ACA tax credits which could significantly lower their overall healthcare costs; access Stride’s mobile app to track work-related expenses, such as mileage or meals, to help lower their tax bill; and have free, year-round access to Stride's customer service team of licensed, qualified agents to help them get the most of their benefits.
“Stride was founded on the premise that everyone, no matter the type of work they do, should have access to affordable healthcare coverage and benefits,” said Noah Lang, co-founder and CEO of Stride. “Caregiving is a type of work that often goes overlooked - and yet it’s crucial to society and our modern-day economy. We’re excited to connect with the extensive caregiver population on Care’s platform and ensure that they have access to the basic benefits that they need to keep themselves healthy.”
About Care.com
Available in more than 17 countries, Care.com is the largest online platform for finding and managing family care, spanning in-home and in-center care solutions. Since 2007, families have relied on Care.com for an array of care for children, seniors, pets, and the home. Designed to meet the evolving needs of today’s families and caregivers, the Company also offers customized corporate benefits packages to support working families at more than 700 global clients, household tax and payroll services, and innovations for caregivers to find and book jobs. Care.com is an IAC company (NASDAQ: IAC).
About Stride:
Stride enables independent workers to reap the benefits of their independence. Stride simplifies the challenges of being self-employed by helping workers handle the complexities of insurance and taxes — in one convenient platform. Stride has helped over 3.7 million workers save over $6 billion on their taxes and monthly health insurance premiums.
Stride also supports over 100 leading enterprises including contract workforces, employers, health plans, and agents in delivering access to health benefits and financial planning tools to their workers and customers. Companies like Uber, Amazon, DoorDash, and Instacart partner with Stride to provide their gig economy workforces access to Stride's benefits platform. The company is backed by $96 million in capital from Venrock, New Enterprise Associates, Fidelity’s F-Prime Capital Partners, Mastercard, Allstate and King River.
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