Children with Chronic Health Conditions: Family Impact

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project examines the consequences of having a child with chronic conditions on parental labor force outcomes (labor force participation, employment, hours worked, and wage) and use of employer-based health insurance and child care. We hypothesize that maternal labor force participation will be reduced for women with a chronically ill child and that the effect will be greater for married women. Among co-resident fathers, we anticipate that having a child with a chronic health condition will increase labor force participation because of the specialization of roles within a family. We anticipate that among employed women, having a child with a chronic condition will increase use of employer-based health insurance and will decrease use of using non- relative child care compared to employed women with apparently healthy children. This study will use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Child Data. Public policies such as the Supplemental Security income program and private workplace policies such as sick leave time are based on assumptions about parents' behavior relative to their child's health status. Yet little is known about how a child's health status influences family labor force and child care decisions. This study will provide context to these ongoing policy debates. The project will also provide information useful to families as they seek to understand their experience in the context of the experience of others and to physicians who can use the information to provide anticipatory guidance to patients and their families.