Gender differences in employment disruption and return to work among cancer survivors in South Korea

This study analyzes gender differences in unemployment and return-to-work experiences among all patients with cancer in a nationwide cohort.

Using data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), we analyzed 20,835 employed individuals (aged 15-59) newly diagnosed with cancer in 2010. These individuals were followed annually for 6 years (2010-2016) to assess unemployment after diagnosis. Of the total, 5,524 patients experienced unemployment during the follow-up period. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate unemployment risk and its association with gender.

The hazard ratio (HR) for unemployment following cancer diagnosis is 1.98 (95% CI, 1.85 to 2.11), indicating that women have a higher rate of job loss compared to men. Additionally, women were approximately 26% less likely to return to work after losing their jobs, highlighting significant gender disparities in employment outcomes among cancer survivors.

Employment is important for cancer survivors, but women are more vulnerable to job loss after a cancer diagnosis and less likely to return to work after losing their jobs, particularly those in lower-income groups.