Nearly three in ten Americans age 25 and older provided unpaid care in the past year, according to an EBRI issue brief published July 22, 2026 from the 36th annual Retirement Confidence Survey. The financial profile that comes with it is measurably worse than their peers': 34% of caregivers hold less than $10,000 in savings and investments, against 25% of non-caregivers, and 69% call debt a problem, against 57%.
Asked which financial tasks caregiving had damaged most, caregiving workers named saving for emergencies (56%) first and working the hours they want or need to work (54%) second.
Craig Copeland, EBRI's director of wealth benefits research, framed the misclassification directly: "Caregiving is often discussed as a family, health or workplace issue, but this research shows it is also an important retirement security issue."
Congress Built Two Tools for This Exact Squeeze
SECURE 2.0 created both:
- Emergency personal expense distributions (Section 115). One withdrawal per calendar year, up to $1,000, exempt from the 10% early-withdrawal penalty. The plan may accept a participant's written self-certification. It is repayable within three years.
- Pension-linked emergency savings accounts (Section 127). A Roth-basis "sidecar" inside the 401(k), capped at $2,500, open to non-highly-compensated employees, withdrawable for any reason.
Both are optional for employers. That is where the plan breaks.
The Adoption Numbers Disagree — and Both Are Bad
Vanguard's data through year-end 2025 found 4% of plans offered the emergency expense withdrawal, and where it existed, 0.4% of participants used one. Hardship self-certification sat at 3%. PLESAs and Roth employer contributions drew what Vanguard called minimal to no interest.
PSCA's 68th Annual Survey, covering the 2024 plan year, put adoption of the $1,000 withdrawal much higher at 36%, with 1.3% offering a PLESA — triple the prior year, and 14% considering one.
Treat that 4%-versus-36% spread as the real lesson: the surveys cover different plan universes and years, so neither headline tells you what your own plan does. Only your plan document does.
By contrast, 91% of plans adopted SECURE 2.0's expanded catch-up contributions. Sponsors moved fast on provisions that keep money in and slowly on provisions that let money out.
The $1,000 Isn't Always $1,000
Even where the withdrawal exists, IRS Notice 2024-55 caps it at the lesser of $1,000 or the amount by which the vested balance exceeds $1,000. The notice's own example: a participant with $1,500 vested can take $500, not $1,000. Below $1,000 vested, the answer is zero.
The provision thins out precisely where balances are smallest — the group EBRI found caregivers overrepresented in. And taking one locks out another for three calendar years unless it is repaid or new contributions match the amount withdrawn.
Practical Takeaways
- Read the summary plan description before you need it. Search it for "emergency personal expense" and "emergency savings account." Confirm with HR in writing; assume nothing from survey averages.
- Do the vested-balance math first. Multiply nothing — just subtract $1,000 from your vested balance. That difference, capped at $1,000, is your actual ceiling.
- Rank your liquidity sources ahead of time. Roth IRA contributions (basis comes out tax- and penalty-free at any age) generally beat a plan withdrawal. A 401(k) loan avoids permanent leakage but comes due on separation.
- Price the hours, not just the dollars. With 54% of caregiving workers reporting disrupted hours, reduced earnings can cut the employer match and the Social Security earnings record simultaneously.
- Ask your employer to add the features. Both are discretionary amendments. Employee demand is the usual trigger.
The liquidity provisions exist. For most caregivers, the binding constraint is that their plan never turned them on.
Sources: EBRI – Caregivers and Retirement: Findings From the 2026 Retirement Confidence Survey (July 22, 2026); InvestmentNews – Unpaid Caregivers Face Steeper Financial Hurdles on Path to Retirement, EBRI Finds; Vanguard – Which Optional Provisions of SECURE 2.0 Are Taking Hold? (How America Saves 2026 data, year-end 2025); PSCA – 68th Annual Survey of 401(k) and Profit Sharing Plans; IRS Notice 2024-55; Jackson Lewis Benefits Law Advisor – New Guidance: Emergency Personal Expense and Domestic Abuse Victim Distributions