Research article summary (published 13 Sep 2009):

The impact of cancer on spouses' labor earnings: a population-based study.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND: Cancer affects patients' incomes, but to the authors' knowledge few studies to date have examined how the income of the patients' spouses may be influenced. In this population-based study from Norway, the effects of cancer on both partners' earnings are analyzed. METHODS: The difference between labor earnings the year before the cancer diagnosis and that 2, 5, or 8 years later was compared with the difference in earnings over a corresponding period for similar persons without cancer, applying linear regression models to national registry data. Approximately 1.1 million married persons ages 35 to 59 years were included, among them 17,250 persons diagnosed with cancer during 1991 through 1999. RESULTS: Two and 5 years after a cancer diagnosis, married men experienced lower earnings than they would have absent the illness. Cancer in wives, however, did not affect men's earnings. Women's earnings were adversely influenced to the same extent by their own as by their spouses' cancer. Brain, lung, and colorectal cancer in male spouses produced the most adverse effects on women's earnings. All effects were most pronounced for women no longer married. CONCLUSIONS: Women's earnings are lower after both their own and their spouses' cancer illness, and divorced and widowed women experience the most pronounced reduction after spousal cancer. Men's earnings are lower only if they are diagnosed themselves. This may reflect traditional sex roles, with men as main breadwinners and women as caregivers. For family households, cancer in men may result in greater financial difficulties than cancer among women, although the effect will depend on breadwinner roles before diagnosis. Copyright (c) 2009 American Cancer Society.

Author information

Author/s: Syse, Astri (A); Tretli, Steinar (S); Kravdal, Oystein (O);

Affiliation: Cancer Registry of Norway, Oslo, Norway. astri.syse(-atsign-)medisin.uio.no

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Cancer (Cancer), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Sep; vol 115 (issue 18 Suppl) : pp 4350-61

Dates: Created 2009/09/10; Completed 2009/10/22;

PMID: 19731350, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/22/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult Child Cost of Illness Educational Status Family Characteristics Female Humans Income - trends

Income - trends Male Middle Aged Neoplasms - economics Population Surveillance Sex Factors Spouses Time Factors

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