The Grief Tax: New Research Shows the Compounding Impacts of Loss
For the past few years, we’ve studied the cost of loss. Each year we’ve seen the same thing: the financial burden is significant, and most people aren’t prepared. Empathy’s annual reports showed post-lost costs averaged around $12,500, but we’ve always known the story runs deeper. This year’s research report, The Grief Tax, finally puts numbers behind that reality— showing just how deep, and how uneven, that burden really is.
The Grief Tax is paid in more than dollars—and it’s a cost no one is prepared for, even in the month of April when taxes are top of mind. It takes a toll on our physical health, careers, relationships, and daily lives. It drains time, energy, and wellbeing, leaving families carrying far more than they ever expected.
While loss touches everyone, our data makes it clear: not everyone feels its weight evenly. Caregivers, Millennials, Gen Xers—those already stretched thin—carry the heaviest load. The scale and duration of what they’re shouldering is staggering:
Millennials and Gen Xers—the Sandwich Generation—face the steepest toll. Compared to other generations, they experience up to 40% more physical symptoms, 36% more emotional strain, and carry the greatest financial and administrative burdens.
In our survey, 62% of respondents had served as executors, a role that fell overwhelmingly to women (68%). For many, the burden was compounded: over 70% were also primary caregivers, and 75% experienced panic attacks under the weight of these responsibilities.
The process to settle all of the necessary affairs is long and grueling—it can take up to 20 months.
Preparation is still rare, but makes all the difference. Based on current industry reporting, only 24% of adults reported having a will in 2025. In our research, over two-thirds of executors lacked access to essential documents like wills or tax records, delaying the process of settling affairs.
Grief doesn’t stay at home. Nearly 90% of grieving employees experience anxiety, and more than 90% struggle to focus at work.
Since founding Empathy in 2020, we’ve partnered with leading employers and insurance carriers to bring compassionate, ongoing support to millions of people. And what we’ve learned over the last four years is echoed in this report: supporting families through loss requires better policies and preparation.
The data in this report is both a call for awareness and a wake-up call, and we need to act now. At a time when financial pressures are mounting and everyday costs are rising, 54% of people are spending out of pocket to manage the responsibilities and pay for post-los costs. The Sandwich Generation, parents and caretakers already carrying so much, make up 67% of those borrowing money from the bank and taking out loans to cover these expenses. It’s exhausting, overwhelming, and unsustainable. We believe a better way is possible.
We need to rethink how we prepare for loss and how we show up for families living through it. We can move towards a future rooted in readiness, compassion, and a new standard of support that acknowledges the breadth, depth, and true scope of the Grief Tax.
That’s the future Empathy is building toward. We hope the insights in this report help bring us all closer to it.