A report released today by the Australian Institute of Health
and Welfare shows that chronic diseases are associated with more
days off work and/or being out of the workforce, and some of the
biggest culprits are depression, arthritis and asthma.
The report, Chronic disease and participation in work,
looked at selected chronic diseases to provide an estimate of the
loss to the Australian economy due to reduced participation in work
among people who have chronic disease.
Report author, Karen Bishop, said, 'As one might expect, chronic
diseases are associated with lower participation in the labour
force and more missed days of work.'
'Even after adjusting for age, people with chronic disease were
60% more likely to not be in the labour force than people without
chronic disease. They were also less likely to be employed
full-time, and more likely to be unemployed,' she said.
People with chronic disease who were in the labour force had, on
average, about a half a day off work in the previous fortnight due
to illness, compared with about a quarter of a day on average for
those without chronic disease.
Of approximately 10.5 million Australians aged 25-64 years,
about 33% reported at least one of the following chronic diseases:
arthritis, asthma, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD), depression, diabetes and osteoporosis.
The report also found that men with chronic disease were more
than twice as likely to be out of the labour force, whereas women
with chronic disease were 20% more likely not participate in the
labour force.
'This difference may reflect the different labour force
distribution for males and females. Males are more likely to be in
the labour force, and females more likely to be out of the labour
force for a number of reasons, including caring and parenting,' Ms
Bishop said.
Deaths of working age people from chronic disease also decreased
the potential workforce.
Loss due to deaths could be primarily attributed to cancers
(52%) and heart attacks (19%).
The report estimates a loss of nearly 540,000 full-time workers
associated with the presence of chronic disease.
'Given that in 2004-05 the Australian full-time workforce
numbered 5.7 million, a loss of half a million people represents
nearly 10% of the full-time workforce,' she said.
Wednesday 11 February 2009
Further information: Karen Bishop, tel. 02 6244
1085, mob. 0418 271 395.
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, AIHW, tel. (02) 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications area
for the availability of Chronic disease and
participation in work.