Companies Eye Cutting Benefits for Parents as Recession Looms (1)

About half of US companies plan to cut employee benefits this year to prepare for a potential recession, according to a recent survey.

Adoption and fertility-assistance programs were the perks companies said they were most likely to eliminate, while parental leave and child-care benefits were also on the chopping block, domestic-services website Care.com said in a report Thursday. In December the site asked leaders from 500 companies in the US about their plans for the year and almost all said they expected to adjust employee benefits in some way.

The reductions will add to the strain parents have faced for years, which ...