Work/Life Trends
Work/Life Snaphot: Gender Gap Continues To Close

According to LifeCare's book-of-business utilization review for the second quarter of 2006, men are using work/life programs more than ever—and the gap between male and female utilization rates in specific areas is shrinking quickly. For example:

	Men accounted for almost half (46 percent) of all adoption-related requests, which used to be made almost exclusively by women.
	Men initiated about one-third of all cases in the areas of special needs (31 percent), academics (31 percent) and personal services (35 percent).
	Perhaps most surprising is the fact that men initiated about 20 percent of all prenatal cases and cases related to our Mothers at Work® workplace breastfeeding program for the quarter!

It's interesting to note that child care and elder care programs are not alike when it comes to utilization by gender. Child care, for instance, has always been an 80/20 proposition, as it was again for this quarter—utilization was 80 percent female and 20 percent male. Elder care utilization, on the other hand, was 30 percent male for the quarter, a significant difference from child care. And men continue to use elder care programs in steadily rising numbers.

As people seek greater work/life balance and deal with emerging issues such as elder care, we expect utilization of our programs to grow even stronger in the future. And, if the trends hold steady, men will be an increasingly significant presence!