Self-reported health and sickness benefits among parents of children with a disability

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of respondents included in the analysis.

	Mothers	Mothers of a child with a disability	Men	Fathers of a child with a disability
Age^a		***		***
Mean (SD)	42.8 (7.5)	37.5 (6.0)	44.7 (6.0)	42.3 (5.2)
(N)	(14,323)	(713)	(12,215)	(400)
Married (1996)		***		***
Yes	66.6	60.0	61.5	80.8
(N)	(9461)	(428)	(7482)	(352)
Educational level (1996)		***		ns
Primary School	20.8	14.5	19.9	19.0
Secondary School	53.3	65.5	55.1	57.4
Higher education	25.9	20.0	25.1	23.6
(N)	(14,197)	(705)	(12,064)	(399)
Occupational status in 1996		***		**
Working	81.1	67.2	92.2	95.8
(N)	(10,674)	(439)	(11,743)	(383)
Work hours paid per week (1996)		***		ns
1–19 hours	19.5	27.8	3.0	1.2
20–29 hours	21.9	25.9	1.6	2.3
30–34 hours	12.4	11.6	3.0	3.5
35–40 hours	43.0	33.1	74.6	77.1
40 + hours	3.2	1.6	17.8	15.8
(N)	(10,532)	(432)	(9841)	(341)
Self-reported health (1996)	ns		ns
Bad	0.9	1.4	1.1	1.5
Not good	17.1	18.3	14.7	14.6
Good	60.8	59.6	64.0	63.1
Very good	21.3	20.7	20.3	20.9
(N)	(14,203)	(706)	(12,142)	(398)
Long-standing illness (1996)
Yes	17.0	20.2*	18.7	19.5^ns
(N)	(2359)	(139)	(2224)	(77)
Sickness benefits (if working in 1996)
Yes	80.5	89.2***	65.7	78.7***
(N)	(11,548)	(554)	(11,214)	(432)
Mean days on sickness benefits per year after birth of child with a disability/first child (if working in 1996)
Mean (SD)	22.6 (20.4)	29.2 (28.0)***	17.0 (18.3)	21.8 (25.8)***
(N)	(9300)	(552)	(7373)	(340)
Mean times per year on sickness benefits after birth of child with a disability/first child (if working in 1996)
Mean (SD)	0.27 (0.21)	0.48 (0.54)***	0.21 (0.21)	0.36 (0.46)***
(N)	(8586)	(550)	(7373)	(339)

^aAll mothers were born during 1946–1976, with a child born before 1996. All men were born during 1946–1966 and fathers of a child with a disability had that child prior to 1996.

*p < .05.

**p < .01.

***p < .001.

Table 2. Hierarchical regression analysis predicting self-reported health.

	Mothers					Men
	b	SE(B)	Beta	p-value	ΔR^2	b	SE(B)	Beta	p-value	ΔR^2
Constant	3.52	0.04		.000		3.70	0.05		.000
Child with a disability (Step 1)	−0.11	0.02	−0.04	.000	.00	−0.06	0.03	−0.02	.063	.00
Age (Step 2)	−0.02	0.00	−0.18	.000	.03***	−0.02	0.00	−0.17	.000	.03***
Married (Step 3)	0.06	0.01	0.04	.000	.00***	0.06	0.01	0.05	.000	.00***
Education (Step 4)					.02***					.02***
Secondary school	0.11	0.01	0.09	.000		0.10	0.01	0.08	.000
Higher education	0.24	0.02	0.16	.000		0.23	0.02	0.16	.000
R^2:	.05					.05

Note: ‘Reporting’: beta values (b), standard errors (SE B), standardized betas (beta), p-value and explained variance (R²) and change in explained variance (ΔR²) (mothers: N = 14,908; men: N = 12,539).

*p < .05.

**p < .01.

***p < .001.

Table 3. Logistic regression predicting long-standing illness.

	Mothers			Men
	p-value	Odds ratio (OR)	Change in −2LL (sig.)	p-value	Odds ratio (OR)	Change in −2LL (sig.)
Child with a disability (Step 1)	.000	1.56	5 (.03)	.111	1.23	0 (.680)
Age (Step 2)	.000	1.05	192 (.000)	.000	1.04	52 (.000)
Married (Step 3)	.000	0.81	20 (.000)	.000	0.71	59 (.000)
Education (Step 4)			42 (.000)			45 (.000)
Secondary school	.009	0.86		.022	0.88
Higher education	.000	0.66		.000	0.64
−2LL (total change)	12,639 (709)			11,203 (642)
	R^2 = Cox & Snell: 0.02 Nagelkerke: 0.03			R^2 = Cox & Snell: 0.01 Nagelkerke: 0.02

Note: ‘Reporting’: p-value, odds ratio (OR), −2LL and change in −2LL (mothers N = 15,036; men N = 12,615).

*p < .05.

**p < .01.

***p < .001.

Table 4. Logistic regression predicting sickness benefits after the birth of a child with a disability/first child.

	Mothers			Men
	p-value	Odds ratio	Change in−2LL	p-value	Odds ratio	Change in −2LL
Child with a disability (Step 1)	.000	2.15	31 (.000)	.000	2.12	31 (.000)
Age (Step 2)	.341	1.00	3 (.102)	.000	1.01	9 (.002)
Married (Step 3)	.000	0.75	27 (.000)	.559	0.97	6 (.010)
Education (Step 4)			33 (.000)			487 (.000)
Secondary school	.000	0.75		.000	0.69
Higher education	.000	0.64		.000	0.28
Paid work hours per week (Step 5)	.960	1.00	0 (.960)	.076	0.95	3 (.075)
−2LL (Total change)	10,286 (94)			12,444 (538)
	R^2 = Cox & Snell: 0.01 Nagelkerke: 0.01			R^2 = Cox & Snell: 0.05 Nagelkerke: 0.07

Note: ‘Reporting’: p-value, odds ratio (OR), −2LL and change in −2LL (ΔR²) (mothers N = 12,102; men N = 11,646).

*p < .05.

**p < .01.

***p < .001.

Table 5 . Hierarchical regression analysis predicting mean days on sickness benefits per year after the birth of a child with a disability/first child.

	Mothers					Men
	b	SE(B)	Beta	p-value	ΔR^2	b	SE(B)	Beta	p-value	ΔR^2
Constant	20.43	1.62		.000		14.01	2.16		.000
Child with a disability (Step 1)	8.11	1.03	0.08	.000	.01***	5.74	1.05	0.07	.000	.00***
Age (Step 2)	0.13	0.03	0.05	.000	.00***	0.29	0.04	0.10	.000	.01***
Married (Step 3)	−1.84	0.50	−0.04	.000	.00***	−1.70	0.48	−0.05	.000	.00***
Education (Step 4)					.01***					.02***
Secondary school	−2.88	0.61	−0.07	.000		−3.87	0.56	−0.11	.000
Higher education	−4.71	0.67	−0.10	.000		−8.09	0.67	−0.18	.000
Paid work hours per week (Step 5)	0.14	0.18	0.01	.447	.00	−1.34	0.29	−0.06	.000	.00***
R^2:	.02					.04

Notes: ‘Reporting’: beta values (b), standard errors (SE B), standardized betas (beta), p-value and explained variance (R²) and change in explained variance (ΔR²) (mothers N = 8732; men N = 6607). Only respondents who were working in 1996 and who had received sickness benefits during the period 1990–2005 were included in the analysis.

*p < .05.

**p < .01.

***p < .001.

Table 6. Hierarchical regression analysis predicting mean times on sickness benefits per year after the birth of a child with a disability/first child.

	Mothers					Men
	b	SE(B)	Beta	p-value	ΔR^2	b	SE(B)	Beta	p-value	ΔR^2
Constant	0.29	0.02		.000		0.28	0.03		.000
Child with a disability (Step 1)	0.23	0.01	0.20	.000	.04***	0.15	0.01	0.14	.000	.02***
Age (Step 2)	0.00	0.00	0.00	.761	.00	0.00	0.00	0.01	.643	.00
Married (Step 3)	−0.03	0.01	−0.05	.000	.00***	−0.02	0.01	−0.03	.008	.00**
Education (Step 4)					.00***					.01**
Secondary school	−0.02	0.01	−0.04	.005		−0.02	0.01	−0.05	.001
Higher education	−0.03	0.01	−0.06	.000		−0.08	0.01	−0.14	.000
Paid work hours per week (Step 5)	0.00	0.00	0.02	.115	.00	−0.01	0.00	−0.03	.009	.00**
R^2:								.04	.03

Notes: ‘Reporting’: beta values (b), standard errors (SE B), standardized betas (beta), p-value and explained variance (R²) and change in explained variance (ΔR²) (mothers N = 8729; men N = 6607). Only respondents who were working in 1996 and who had received sickness benefits during the period 1990–2005 were included in the analysis.

*p < .05.

**p < .01.

***p < .001.