New research reveals that women are not asking for more perks. They are asking for benefits that reflect how they actually live and work.
For many organizations, International Women’s Day has become a well-intentioned ritual: a keynote, a social post, perhaps a team lunch. But new research from Benchmark Benefits suggests that these gestures, however sincere, are increasingly insufficient in the eyes of the women they are meant to recognize.
Conducted with 1,502 Canadians through the Angus Reid Forum in February 2026, the research surfaces a clear and pressing challenge for HR leaders: the gap between what employees experience as meaningful support and what organizations currently provide is widening. And women are noticing.
Key takeaways
- Employee Benefits are now a trust signal, not just a compensation component — women are using them to evaluate organizational credibility
- Dissatisfaction does not stay internal: it becomes delayed healthcare, disengagement, and ultimately attrition
- Most plans underperform not because of what they cover, but because of inadequate depth and poor communication
- Organizations can use the Benchmark Benefits 3-minute self-assessment at to establish an honest baseline on where their benefits strategy currently stands. Take self-assessment now
The Credibility Gap
The research presents HR leaders with an uncomfortable finding: 83 percent of women say workplace benefits matter more to them than symbolic gestures. This is not a preference. It is a framework through which women are already evaluating their employers.
Compounding this, 64 percent of women believe their employer treats International Women’s Day as a celebration rather than a genuine assessment of how well they support women. For HR leaders, this represents a credibility gap that communications alone cannot close. Trust, the research implies, is rebuilt through policy and coverage decisions, not through messaging.
“International Women’s Day should be a checkpoint, not a checkbox.” — Gisela Carere, President, Benchmark Benefits
Seventy-five percent of women also want companies to be transparent about how they support them. This appetite for transparency is significant: it suggests that even organizations with strong benefits programs may be losing trust simply by failing to communicate what they offer and why.
When Dissatisfaction Becomes Attrition
Benefits dissatisfaction does not stay at the level of opinion. The Benchmark Benefits research traces a clear behavioral sequence that HR leaders should find difficult to set aside.
- 40 percent of women with benefits are not satisfied with their current package.
- 47 percent have delayed or avoided healthcare because their coverage was inadequate.
- More than 1 in 10 women have left a job because their benefits did not meet their needs.
That last figure is where the conversation changes. Retention is one of the most consequential cost drivers organizations face, and inadequate benefits are now a documented reason women walk out the door. For HR leaders, that makes benefits strategy impossible to treat as a back-office function.
What Women Define as Standard
When asked to identify what should be standard in every workplace benefits package, women in the survey were specific and consistent. The list below is not a wish list. These categories represent what women consider baseline, not exceptional, coverage.
- Comprehensive mental health services (91%)
- Coverage for women’s preventative health (87%)
- Caregiving support for elder or dependent care (87%)
- Flexible or reduced work schedules (82%)
- Menopause assessment, treatment, and hormone therapy coverage (79%)
Several of these categories are already present in many group benefits plans, at least nominally. The more important question is one of adequacy: whether coverage limits, plan design, and communication practices make these benefits genuinely accessible, or whether they exist primarily on paper.
Transparency as a Strategic Lever
The demand for transparency in the research deserves particular attention. When 75 percent of women say they want employers to be open about how they support women, they are identifying a trust deficit that extends beyond plan design. Organizations that communicate benefits decisions proactively, that explain the rationale behind coverage choices and commit to periodic review, build a different kind of institutional credibility. This credibility does not require a perfect plan. It requires a demonstrated commitment to improvement and an honest account of where the organization currently stands.
The practical implication is that benefits strategy and benefits communication are inseparable. A well-designed plan that employees do not understand or trust is, functionally, an underperforming one.
From Awareness to Audit
The research gap most relevant to HR leaders is not between what women need and what organizations offer. It is between what organizations believe they offer and what employees actually experience. That distinction cannot be resolved by awareness alone. It requires an honest audit. Benchmark Benefits has developed a 3-minute self-assessment to help leadership teams establish exactly that baseline. Built on over 20 years of cross-industry advisory experience, it gives organizations a clear picture of where their benefits strategy currently stands and where the gaps are.
Whatever the results reveal, Benchmark Benefits is ready to help you take the next step, whether that means refining an existing plan, addressing specific coverage gaps, or building a benefits strategy that truly reflects the needs of the women in your workforce.