Research: How Snap Inc. is Future-Proofing Their Family Benefits Program for a New World of Work

Here are the key takeaways from a conversation between Rahab Hammad, Snap Inc.’s Senior Manager of Benefits and Karsten Vagner, Maven’s SVP of People

Although many of us are celebrating the easing of pandemic-related restrictions, HR leaders know that we’re not “returning” to normal—the events of the last two years have indelibly changed the way we work, live, and relate to one another. For people building and raising families, the pandemic brought a mental and physical healthcare crisis to a head that was decades in the making. 

Snap Inc realized their employees and their families needed more support, especially as they prepare to enter the next new normal. Recently, Maven’s SVP of People, Karsten Vagner, sat down for a conversation with Rahab Hamad, the senior manager of benefits at Snap Inc., for a conversation about how family-building has changed, and how HR teams can keep up.

People are building families differently, and need support to match 

People are starting families later and more people are exploring alternative ways to build their families than ever before, including fertility treatments and adoption. Today, one in eight Americans is affected by infertility and three times more children are born via fertility treatments than a decade ago. More people are pursuing adoption as well, as a recent report found that 25% of American adults have considered adoption. 63% of same-sex couples planning families expect to use adoption or surrogacy services.
 

“Families are looking different and their needs are different. It’s a good time to start thinking about what supporting them looks like,” says Karsten Vagner, Maven’s SVP of People. “In order to stay competitive in this talent market, more and more employers are considering adding family building benefits.”

Health care for families is inadequate, expensive, and can lead to poor health outcomes

Although family building is changing, our healthcare system and our employee benefits are struggling to keep Here are the key takeaways from a conversation between Rahab Hammad, Snap Inc.’s Senior Manager of Benefits and Karsten Vagner, Maven’s SVP of People up. Prenatal care guidelines haven’t changed since 1930 and 50% of U.S. counties lack obstetric services. All the while, treatments are only getting more expensive: fertility treatments can be cost-prohibitive for most— successful fertility treatment outcomes can cost up to $60,000, and many families can expect to pay above $5,000 out of pocket for pregnancies with insurance. 

Employers are feeling this strain too, with a 50% increase in maternity costs in the past decade that now make up about 20% of employers’ overall healthcare costs. The pandemic has only further complicated the issue for working parents: with childcare and school closures, the majority of parents have had to change their childcare arrangements and don’t have permanent solutions. Working parents are at an increased risk for burnout, which can have devastating impacts on health and productivity.

Snap Inc. is offering aspiring parents and families more 

Snap Inc. sought a partner who could help them align their benefits to their globally distributed employee population. “As our employees have families, we want to grow with them from a benefits perspective every step of the way,” explains Rahab Hammad, Snap Inc.’s Senior Manager of Benefits. Snap wanted innovative and user-friendly benefits that fit into their employees’ lives and offered meaningful support. 

Snap Inc. needed a solution that addressed the gaps in family care like access to care, benefits navigation, and care coordination, as well as offering inclusive options like fertility treatments, surrogacy, and adoption. They introduced Maven’s digital family health platform to help employees find and access the care they needed no matter where they were on their family-building journey. Maven checked all of their boxes — offering support for every path to parenthood, continuous care throughout the entire journey, and a vast network of on-demand providers available around the clock and around the world.

By offering an inclusive digital family health benefit, parents receive more support and better health outcomes

“Global parity is really important for us. Providing quality services that are available through the Maven network, it really just makes sense.”

Through Maven, Snap Inc. employees have access to high-quality perinatal and postpartum care and personalized educational content for every moment of the parenting journey. Since launching the program, they’ve seen high rates of utilization from both men and women: 52% of employees using Maven identify as male, and 16% are outside of the U.S.

“The on-demand, global network is huge,” says Hammad. “Global parity is really important for us. Providing quality services that are available through the Maven network, it really just makes sense.” Maven is filling a critical need for families and expecting parents during a time full of stressful and intense life transitions. “[We’re never going] back to normal, we’re transitioning to a new lifestyle,” says Hammad. “We’re reimagining how we support all of our team members.”

Ready to start providing world-class benefits for your employees? Request a demo today.
 

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