Abstract
BackgroundIn Australia, 40% of people diagnosed with cancer will be of working age (25–64 years). A cancer diagnosis may lead to temporary or permanent changes in a person’s labour force participation, which has an economic impact on both the individual and the economy. However, little is known about this economic impact of cancer due to lost productivity in Australia. This paper aims to determine the labour force participation characteristics of people with cancer, to estimate the indirect cost due to lost productivity, and to identify any inequality in the distribution of labour force absence in Australia.MethodsThis study used national cross-sectional data from the 2015 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The ABS weighted each component of the survey to ensure the sample represented the population distribution of Australia. The analysis was limited to people aged 25–64 years. Participants were assigned to one of three health condition groups: ‘no health condition’, ‘cancer’, and ‘any other long-term health condition’. A series of logistic regression models were constructed to determine the association between health condition and labour force participation.ResultsA total of 34,393 participants surveyed were aged 25–64 years, representing approximately 12,387,800 Australians. Almost half (46%) of people with cancer were not in the labour force, resulting in a reduction of $1.7 billion to the Australian gross domestic product (GDP). Amongst those in the labour force, people with no health condition were 3.00 times more likely to be employed full-time compared to people with cancer (95% CI 1.96–4.57), after adjusting for age, sex, educational attainment and rurality. Amongst those with cancer, people without a tertiary qualification were 3.73 times more likely to be out of the labour force (95% CI 1.97–7.07).ConclusionsThis paper is the first in Australia to estimate the national labour force participation rates of people with cancer. People with cancer were less likely to be in the labour force, resulting in a reduction in Australia’s GDP. Cancer survivors, especially those without a tertiary qualification may benefit from support to return to work after a diagnosis.
Highlights
In Australia, 40% of people diagnosed with cancer will be of working age (25–64 years)
This study provides a national perspective of the cost of cancer due to premature mortality; there is currently limited work on the productivity cost for people with cancer who are out of the labour force
Aim 3: Inequality in the distribution of labour force absence amongst those with cancer The concentration index showing level of inequality in the distribution of labour force absence amongst people with cancer was calculated to be − 0.20, which indicates that having cancer and being not in the labour force is unequally skewed towards those with a low educational attainment
Summary
In Australia, 40% of people diagnosed with cancer will be of working age (25–64 years). In 2017, an estimated 134,174 Australians will be diagnosed with cancer, of which 40% will be of working age (25–64 years) [3]. In a more recent Australian study of 255 cancer patients, 67% reported changes to their employment [5]. A recent meta-analysis of international studies found that compared to healthy control participants, cancer survivors were 1.4 times more likely to be unemployed [7]. These studies focus on the individual perspective, and highlight the important financial distress faced by individual cancer patients and their
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