Lifetime impact of injury on education, employment and income for Australians of labour force participation age

Background

Research shows that employment rates are low post injury.

Aims

To quantify the economic impact of a long-term injury and identify whether having a tertiary level of education attainment would offset this impact.

Methods

Cross-sectional analysis of the 2012 Survey of Disability, Aging and Carers, which is nationally representative of the Australian population.

Results

Males with any long-term injury had incomes 41% less than males with no chronic health condition (95% confidence interval [CI] –49.3%, –31.6%). For males with a long-term injury, there was no significant difference in the likelihood of being not in the labour force between those with and without a tertiary qualification (odds ratio [OR] 0.83, 95% CI 0.45–1.52). There was no significant difference in the incomes of females with any long-term injury compared with those with no chronic health conditions. For females with a long-term injury, there was a significant difference in the likelihood of being not in the labour force between those with and without a tertiary qualification (OR 0.37, 95% CI 0.17–0.80). If men with a long-term injury had the same probability of participating in the workforce as women, the percentage of men not in the labour force would reduce from 37 to 18%.

Conclusions

Having a long-term injury was a significant personal cost in terms of labour force absence and lower income for males regardless of higher education attainment. For females, sustaining a long-term injury did not appear to significantly affect income.

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