A new study reveals that teens and young adults who have diabetes are at a higher risk of dropping out of school, and ending up with a worse job outlook than their peers who do not have diabetes. These are issues that haven’t been focused on before in previous studies.
A study was published in the journal of Health Affairs. Researchers looked at data that came from about 15,000 people who were examined in four separate waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.
The first wave was made up of students who were in grades seven through twelve. That same group was interviewed again one year later, seven years later, and fourteen years later. Within this group, the diabetes prevalence was 2.6%.
The results of the study revealed some of the non-medical problems that are faced by teenagers and young adults who have diabetes. They found that young people who had diabetes finished three fewer months of school than their peers who didn’t have diabetes. Teens with diabetes have a 6% higher dropout rate than those who don’t have the disease.
Other problems occurred once these teenagers got older, and entered the job market. The researchers found that young adults who had diabetes had “employment reductions” of 8% to 11%. They also noted that this group had a decrease in yearly earnings of $1,500 to $6,000. The researchers figured out that this would translate to a lifetime earning penalty of $160,000 per person over 40 years.
Another difficulty comes when you consider health insurance. Young adults who have diabetes, and who are under the age of 26, could potentially be covered through their parent’s health insurance plan.
Those who are 27 or older, or whose parents do not have health insurance, are going to need to find their own plan. Often, this means that young adults with diabetes end up taking lower paying jobs, specifically because it will offer them health insurance. It also keeps them stuck in those types of jobs. It is suspected that some employers will be less willing to invest in workers who have chronic health conditions like diabetes.
There are some things that parents of teens and young adults who have diabetes can do in order to prevent some of these types of problems. Make sure your teenager goes to school, studies, and completes her homework. Keep aware of school policies involving absences. You might need to produce doctor’s notes in order to have your teen’s absences due to illness not counted against her.
If your child has dropped out of high school, you might be able to help him to start working on his GED. Life is extremely difficult for people who do not have at least a high school diploma. Parents who have health insurance should see if they can afford to add their child to their health insurance plan. That way, your child won’t have to take a job just to be able to have health insurance.
Image by Alden Chadwick on Flickr