Study: Families with child with special needs lose an average $18k a year in lost wages

New research has found that families with a child with special needs lost an average of $18,000 a year in household income (Source: “Leaving Work to Care for Special Needs Child Takes Big Financial Toll,” Health Day News, Aug. 30).

Households that lost income while providing care for a child were more likely to live in poverty, be enrolled in a government assistance program and more likely to spend over $5,000 a year in out-of-pocket expenses for their child's health care, according to the study published in the August issue of the journal Pediatrics.

The study found that households of children with intellectual disability, cerebral palsy or brain injury had the highest levels of lost wages, and that lost wages were high in families with children under 5 and in Hispanic families.