The Timing of Cancer Onset and Its Labour-Market Consequences

Yuliya Kulikova
Sonja Spitzer
Jana Ströbinger, University of Vienna

We examine how the timing of a cancer diagnosis shapes individuals’ labour market trajectories. Timing matters: diagnoses earlier in working life may trigger long-term income and employment losses, while those closer to retirement often coincide with labour market exit, muting short-run effects. Yet evidence on this interaction remains scarce. Using Austrian administrative data (2009–2020), we track daily records of income, employment, and occupational status before and after diagnosis. The dataset covers the entire population of cancer patients treated in national hospitals and a large pool of matched controls. In addition to employment and income histories, we observe survival outcomes and cancer-specific details (site and stage), allowing us to analyse not only when and if, but also what type of cancer drives these patterns. Our empirical strategy combines coarsened exact matching with an event-study difference-in-differences design to estimate dynamic effects. Results show marked age gradients. Workers under 40 experience the shortest employment breaks and fastest returns, mainly through part-time re-entry. Those aged 40–49 face the largest immediate income losses, partly offset by benefits; men recover to baseline after about six years, while women experience persistent gross- and net-income declines. Among older workers (50–59), responses shift toward retirement or gradual hour reductions. Overall, the findings highlight that the age at diagnosis critically shapes post-cancer economic outcomes and that policies should explicitly account for life-cycle timing.

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 Presented in Session 49. Health and Economic Outcomes