Work-Related Income Drops for Parents of Children Diagnosed With Type 1 Diabetes

THURSDAY, Aug. 21, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Work-related income decreases sharply for mothers and fathers of children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, with similar effects across sociodemographic groups, according to a study published online Aug. 8 in Diabetologia.

Beatrice Kennedy, M.D., Ph.D., from Uppsala University in Sweden, and colleagues quantified the impact of childhood-onset type 1 diabetes on parental incomes in a register-based quasi-experimental study. Parents of 13,358 children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in Sweden from 1993 to 2014 and 506,516 population-based matched control parents were included in the study. Income trajectories were compared between exposed and control parents using a difference-in-differences approach.

The researchers found that in both mothers and fathers of children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, there was a sharp decline in work-related income. The mean yearly income difference was −15.4 and −6.0 (expressed in €100) for mothers and fathers in the year after diagnosis, representing a relative decrease of 6.6 and 1.6 percent, respectively. Across sociodemographic groups and calendar periods, the effects on income were similar. For mothers, the pension-qualifying income increased by 28.7 in the first year after diagnosis due to parental care allowance, then decreased during long-term follow-up (−10.9 after 17 years).

“Our findings indicate that there is room for improvement in the societal targeted support to mothers of children with chronic conditions, to ensure that the financial impact of caring for a child with health concerns is alleviated,” coauthor Tove Fall, Ph.D., also from Uppsala University, said in a statement.

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