New York Life Foundation Releases 2025 State of Grief Report Calling for Systemic, Lifelong Grief Support

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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 12, 2026--

The New York Life Foundation today released its 2025 “ State of Grief Report: Building a Sustainable Culture of Care and Grief Support,” revealing that while grief is a universal human experience, too many children, families and workers continue to navigate the death of a loved one without consistent systems, coordinated support or institutional understanding.

Based on a national survey of more than 2,200 adults, the report highlights critical gaps in how grief is recognized and addressed across schools, workplaces and communities — while also pointing to growing momentum for change. The data suggests the nation is at an inflection point: Awareness of grief’s impact is rising, but infrastructure has not yet caught up. With more than three million deaths in the U.S. last year, the findings underscore the urgency of strengthening grief-informed systems nationwide as an embedded standard of care.

“Grief does not exist in isolation. It shows up in classrooms, workplaces and homes every day,” said Heather Nesle, president of the New York Life Foundation. “This year’s report makes clear that while awareness of the need for support is growing, families are still encountering systems that are unprepared to respond. It’s time to move grief support from something situational or optional to something built into the fabric of how we care for one another.”

Key Findings From the 2025 “State of Grief Report”

The data reinforces that Americans increasingly view grief as a defining life event that warrants structured, long-term support.

• Supporting the youngest grievers must start early.
  • 95% of parents agree children under age 5 need special grief support.
  • 86% believe young children are often the most forgotten grievers.
  • 89% want more resources to help them talk with young children about grief.

• Families want grief recognized and addressed in schools.
  • 83% of parents would support grief education in school curricula, and 42% say it should begin in elementary school.
  • 77% believe a death in the family should be documented on a child’s permanent school record.

• Employees see bereavement support as a core workplace benefit.
  • 91% of employed adults say the death of a loved one is as significant as other major life events, such as getting married or becoming a parent.
  • 61% of employed adults experienced the death of a loved one while working.
  • 77% say a company’s bereavement policy is an important consideration when job hunting.
  • 93% say they would be proud to work for an employer committed to bereavement support.

“The data tells us that grief is not rare. It is universal,” said Maria Collins, vice president of the New York Life Foundation. “When something is this common, it cannot be treated as exceptional. Leaders across sectors have an opportunity to normalize conversations about loss and ensure that support is clear, visible and accessible.”

Turning Insight Into Action: Free Resources for Schools, Families and Employers

For nearly two decades, the New York Life Foundation has worked to strengthen grief support by building practical frameworks, advancing evidence-based tools and forming trusted partnerships that increase access to sustainable care.

Through the Grief-Sensitive Schools Initiative, the Foundation equips school communities and youth-serving organizations by providing information and tangible resources to create grief-informed environments. More than 7,000 school districts, schools and nonprofit organizations have already committed to becoming grief-sensitive, representing one of the largest coordinated efforts nationwide to address childhood bereavement in education settings.

The Foundation’s Grief-Supportive Workplace Initiative (GSWI) positions grief support as both an individual and business imperative. GSWI advances a no-cost framework that helps employers strengthen policies, practices, training and communications so employees experiencing loss can be supported with clarity and compassion.

In addition to these initiatives, through partnerships with organizations including Sesame Workshop, the National Alliance for Children’s Grief and Judi’s House, the Foundation is working to embed grief support into the places people turn to every day.

The 2025 “State of Grief Report” calls on educators, employers, policymakers and community leaders to address enduring gaps in grief support and build sustainable systems of care — ensuring grief is met with structure and understanding rather than silence, and no one has to navigate loss alone.

The full 2025 “State of Grief Report” and free grief-supportive resources are available at:

• For schools and youth-serving organizations: griefsensitiveschools.org
• For families and communities: NYLgriefresources.org
• For employers: griefsupportiveworkplace.com
• 2025 “State of Grief Report:” newyorklife.com/foundation/our-purpose/research-and-findings

Survey Methodology

The 2025 “State of Grief Report” poll was conducted online Sept. 16–21, 2025, with a sample of 2,201 adults. The data was weighted to approximate a target sample based on age, gender, race, educational attainment, region, gender by age, and race by educational attainment. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.

About the New York Life Foundation

Inspired by New York Life’s tradition of service and humanity, the New York Life Foundation has, since its founding in 1979, provided over $490 million in charitable contributions to national and local nonprofit organizations. The Foundation invests in programs that benefit young people, particularly in the areas of coaching and bereavement support. The Foundation also encourages and facilitates the community involvement of employees and agents of New York Life through its Volunteers for Good program and Grief-Sensitive Schools and Grief-Supportive Workplace Initiatives. To learn more, please visit www.newyorklifefoundation.org.

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CONTACT: Lydia Jung

New York Life

(332) 285-0765

[email protected]

KEYWORD: NEW YORK UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: FOUNDATION PROFESSIONAL SERVICES PHILANTHROPY INSURANCE HUMAN RESOURCES

SOURCE: New York Life Foundation

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PUB: 03/12/2026 09:30 AM/DISC: 03/12/2026 09:32 AM

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