Children with Disabilities: Parental Labour-Market Penalties Worldwide

Nicoletta Balbo , Bocconi University
Elisabetta De Cao, University of Bologna
Francesco De Luca, Bocconi University
Giorgio Nocerino, Centre d'estudis demografics / UAB
Silvia Palmaccio

Today, an estimated 240 million children live with a disability worldwide. Although a child’s disability can profoundly shape parents’ family and economic lives, empirical evidence on its impact remains limited. Using census data from 27 countries, we provide the first cross-national comparative analysis of how child disability affects mothers’ and fathers’ employment trajectories. We implement pseudo–event-study models, constructing synthetic pre-birth employment trends by matching childless individuals to parents of children with and without disabilities on observable characteristics. In higher-income contexts, we document a sizable \textit{child-disability penalty} in maternal employment—mothers of children with disabilities are substantially less likely to be employed than comparable mothers of non-disabled children—while fathers show only marginal effects. By contrast, in lower-income contexts, we find no significant effects for either parent. These results suggest that labour-market structures and broader socio-economic contexts crucially shape parents'—especially mothers'—employment responses to child disability.

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 Presented in Session P2. Families, Fertility, and the Life Course 2