For young people with diabetes mellitus, a lifetime of adverse health problems is a well-documented probability. But now, a new study published in the journal Health Affairs shows that the nonmedical effects of diabetes can be just as difficult. According to the Los Angeles Times, teenagers and young adults with diabetes face a worse job outlook and lower overall wages than their peers.
“Diabetes has a marked effect on schooling and earnings early in life,” said lead author Jason Fletcher of Yale University. “Yet these are relatively unexamined implications of the disease.”
The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health looked at 15,000 teens and young adults, 2.6 percent of whom were diagnosed with diabetes. After interviewing the students in seven-year intervals, researchers found that those with diabetes were 6 percent more likely to drop out of high school than their non-diabetic peers, and to face employment reductions of eight to 11 percent.
Diabetics also saw an average decrease in their yearly earnings of $1,500 to $6,000. Over a working lifetime of 40 years, that translates to $160,000 in loss.
And unfortunately, it’s not just diabetics that face these adverse outcomes. Researchers also found that the children of parents with diabetes are affected by the condition. Young adults with a diabetic mother or father are four to six percent less likely to go to college, even when researchers controlled for the child’s health.
Study authors attributed to the disparity between diabetics and the rest of the population to the hesitancy of employers to invest in someone with the disease, and the effects of the condition itself. Diabetics might also stay in one lower-paying job over time out of fear of losing health insurance, the LA Times reported.
