The Effects of Cancer on Employment and Earnings of Cancer Survivors

The study examines the effects of cancer on the work status and annual earnings of cancer survivors who had a strong attachment to the labour market prior to their diagnosis. The comparison group consists of similar workers never diagnosed with cancer. The study is based on a Statistics Canada linkage file that combines microdata from the 1991 Census, the Canadian Cancer Registry, mortality records and personal income tax files. The study estimates changes in the magnitude of cancer effects during the first three years following the year of the diagnosis using a large sample of cancer survivors diagnosed at ages 25 to 61. The empirical strategy combines matching and regression models to deal with observed and unobserved differences between the cancer and comparison samples, and to improve causal inference.