Employee Benefits Trends to Watch - Our Special Mother's Day Edition: May 2026

Supporting Working Moms

As we prepare to celebrate Mother’s Day, many employers are reflecting on what meaningful support for working mothers really looks like.

Benefits Canada highlighted a recent survey which found that 97% of working mothers would stay longer with an employer that meaningfully supports them. 40% reported leaving a job after having a baby when workplace support fell short. The findings reinforce something many plan sponsors already recognize: thoughtful benefit plan design and flexible workplace support can directly impact attraction, retention, and employee well-being.

While workplace recognition is important, long-term support often comes down to the everyday experience employees have with their benefit plans. For working mothers, that can include access to maternal mental health resources, drug plans that support family-building and postpartum, and specialized paramedical practitioner access.

Meaningful support doesn’t always require adding new programs. It can start with evaluating whether existing benefits are accessible, relevant, and meet employees’ needs. This Mother’s Day offers a timely invitation to reflect on where your benefits are making a difference and where there may be opportunities to better support working parents and caregivers.

To all those balancing work, caregiving, and everything in between, Team CBS wishes you a very Happy Mother’s Day!

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Mother's Day Reading List

1. How Employers Can Support Women's Mental Health Across Their Working Lives

   Benefits Canada

   "From both a clinical and workplace perspective, women’s mental-health needs rarely follow a straight line. They tend to intensify at key transition points, with direct implications for benefits plan design."

   
   

2. 2026 Women's Health & Wealth Summit: What Plan Sponsors Need to Know About Postpartum Depression

   Benefits Canada

   "While the postpartum period is a significant occasion for the first-time onset of mental-health disorders among women, few women seek help during the postpartum period, which can have long-term impacts on their quality of life, their child and their return to work."

   
   

3. 20 Stories About Moms That'll Make You Want to Call Yours

   Reader's Digest

   "There is nothing in the world quite like a mother’s love... You may be in the mood for some heartwarming stories about motherhood. Well, you’re in luck: We’ve gathered readers’ short mom stories about lessons learned, great compassion and love, nostalgic remembrances and the mother-child bond."