Funded Research
Long Term Effects of Cancer on The Employment of Younger and Older Workers
Source: American Cancer Society
Active: 07/01/2008 - 06/30/2010
Investigator(s):
Pamela Farley Short
Christopher Hollenbeak
John Moran
Joseph Vasey
The employment consequences of cancer and its treatment are important for survivors and for society as a whole. Lost productivity is a significant component of the economic burden of cancer on society. At an individual level, any disruption of employment resulting from cancer and its treatment is a threat to the incomes and economic well-being of survivors and their families. Work figures importantly in the psychological and social well-being of survivors because of its links to personal identity, self-esteem, life purpose, and social relationships. While there is no doubt that employment is adversely affected during cancer treatment and recovery, studies of cancer's long-term effects on employment have reached contradictory conclusions.
Our own recent analyses, confined to survivors 55 to 65 years old at follow-up, showed no significant effects on employment rates or hours of work for cancer-free survivors 2-6 years post-diagnosis. We propose to extend this work by estimating long-term employment effects for younger, as well as older, cancer survivors. Also, by estimating effects of cancer survivorship on earnings and wages, and studying survivors of both genders at different ages with a wide variety of cancers, we will expand on the range of employment outcomes and types of survivors considered in prior research.
Specific aims: 1) Estimate long-term effects of cancer survivorship on the employment of younger, as well as older workers, in 2002, 2) Compare reductions in the employment of younger and older workers that are attributable to cancer by year of survivorship, and 3) Estimate long-term effects of cancer survivorship on earnings and growth in wage rates by year of survivorship.
This study will compare longitudinal data on cancer survivors from the Penn State Cancer Survivor Study (PSCSS) to data for a control group of workers without cancer from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). All analyses will be stratified by age and gender. We will use both propensity score matching and regression-based approaches to compare cancer survivors to other adults with similar employment histories and other characteristics in the PSID. The regression-based approaches will include probit models for rates of any and full time employment and Tobit models to accommodate the relatively large number of zeroes for earnings and hours per week. To examine the effects of cancer survivorship on wage growth in in the years following diagnosis and treatment, we will estimate a linear growth curve model.
