When Children Fall Seriously Ill: How workplaces shape the impact on working mothers

CHE RESEARCH BITES

06 June, 2025

When a child is diagnosed with cancer, the devastating news affects the entire family, including parents' ability to work and earn money. A new Australian study reveals just how dramatically these caregiving crises can derail mothers' careers, and shows that workplace culture plays a crucial role in determining the severity of the impact.

Researchers tracked Australian parents whose children were diagnosed with cancer, comparing their employment outcomes to families who would face similar diagnoses several years later. They found that mothers' earnings dropped by approximately 15% in the year their child began treatment and remained 10% lower three years later. These losses persisted for at least five years, pointing to long-term economic consequences. Importantly, the decline was not explained by changes in other family dynamics, such as worsening mental health, suggesting it was driven by the demands of caregiving itself. Fathers’ earnings, however, were largely unaffected, highlighting the gendered burden of caregiving.

The workplace environment made a significant difference to these outcomes. Mothers working in jobs or companies with long average working hours suffered larger earnings losses, whilst those in workplaces with more women in senior positions experienced smaller losses. This suggests that flexible work cultures and gender-inclusive leadership can help mothers maintain their careers during family crises.

The findings have important implications for policy. While we do not causally identify which specific policies are most effective, the results suggest that flexible and family-friendly workplace practices can help reduce long-term caregiving penalties. Efforts to address gendered impacts should also focus on shifting workplace norms so that fathers are supported and encouraged to take on caregiving roles without fear of career repercussions.

Firouzi Naeim, P., Johnston, D.W., & Naghsh Nejad, M. (2025). Balancing Work and Care: How Workplace Factors Can Mitigate the Gendered Impacts of Caregiving (No. 17850). Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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