Income loss for informal caregivers of loved ones with arthritis set to rise

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-05-06 00:01

Australia; NSW; QLD; ACT

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Australians lose hundreds of millions of dollars in income each year as people become carers for loved ones with arthritis, according to Australian research. The researchers say arthritis can be debilitating and research shows it is a common reason Australians leave the workforce early. Less research has been done on the loss of work and subsequently income for those who take on a carer role for people with arthritis who need intensive support, they say. The team used a model that took in data from Australian Bureau of Statistics surveys on disability, ageing and carers, alongside population, workforce and future caregiver projections to calculate how much income is currently lost by informal carers of people with arthritis and how that figure is likely to change in the future. The researchers say in 2015, informal caregivers lost a combined total of about $388.2 million compared to non-carer full-time workers, and this annual loss is likely to increase to $576.9 million in 2030.

Media release

From: Griffith University

Informal carers looking after a loved one with arthritis are financially worse off than non-carers to the sum of $388 million, Griffith University research has discovered.

That figure is set to increase to $576.9 million by 2030, painting a stark future for informal carers who are not in the labour force and do not receive any monetary compensation in exchange for the care provided.

Informal carers are also less likely to participate in the workface due to the demands of their caregiving duties.

Professor Lennert Veerman from Griffith’s School of Medicine and Dentistry co-authored a paper with researchers from Macquarie University which assessed the economic burdens associated with increasing numbers of Australians living with chronic disease – arthritis.

Arthritis, a musculoskeletal disease, can be a costly disease to treat due to its high prevalence and the lifelong nature of the illness.

Professor Veerman said the purpose of the research set out to forecast the economic losses related to caring for people with arthritis from 2015-2030.

“People caring for someone with arthritis earn about $1,000 per week less than similar people who do not have caring responsibilities,” he said.

“Unfortunately, that figure is projected to increase by 22 per cent by 2030, placing a greater economic impact on informal carers.

“This equates to a total economic loss of around half a billion dollars per year, and reduced tax revenue is about $100 million a year.

“This is further proof that our informal carers are economically worse off than employed non-carers, especially when the future economic impact of informal carers is projected to increase.”

The paper has prompted researchers to encourage decision-makers to increase the effort to not only prevent the chronic disease, but also improve quality of life and improve economic growth.

The paper ‘Economic impact of informal caring for a person with arthritis in Australia from 2015 to 2030: a microsimulation approach using national survey data’ has been published in BMJ Open.

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Research BMJ Group, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends

Journal/
conference: BMJ Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Macquarie University, Griffith University, The University of Queensland, University of Canberra, The University of Sydney

Funder: This work is part of research funded by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Partnership Project (GNT 1055037), with Pfizer Australia and Carers Australia as partner organisations. MP is supported by a Career Development Fellowship from the NHMRC (GNT1159601).

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