Delayed retirement is a national strategic decision in China aimed at fully utilizing and developing human resources and adapting to the rapid aging of the population, which is important for the stable development of the economy and society. Influenced by traditional Chinese culture, household-related factors are key variables influencing the delayed retirement decisions of urban employees in China. Based on the presence or absence of family responsibilities in “elderly care” and “child-rearing”, employee families are categorized into four types: “elderly care + child-rearing” “elderly care” “child-rearing” and “no-dependency”. Utilizing four waves of CHARLS data and integrating logit, conditional logit, and probit models, this paper examines how different family types influence delayed retirement decisions. The findings of this paper are as follows: “Child-rearing” families exert a significant negative impact on delayed retirement intentions; “Elderly care” families notably promote delayed retirement intentions; “Elderly care + child-rearing” families show no statistically significant effect; The effect of “child-rearing” families on delayed retirement intentions is more pronounced than that of “elderly care” families. Additionally, employees’ monthly income levels positively moderate the effect of “elderly care” families on delayed retirement decisions, while pension expectations negatively moderate the influence of “child-rearing” families on such decisions. Therefore, efforts should be made to steadily advance reforms for high-quality supply of childcare services, prevent “child-rearing” families from reluctant to embrace delayed retirement policies, and effectively improve elderly care and child-rearing policies, addressing the challenges faced by “elderly care + child-rearing” families in implementing delayed retirement policies, while revitalizing traditional child-rearing culture and enhancing individuals’ delayed retirement intention.