Adult survivors of childhood cancer. Employment and insurance issues in different age groups.

Abstract

Survivors of adult forms of cancer have noted discrimination in obtaining employment appropriate to their abilities/training and in securing comprehensive, affordable health and life insurance. Among survivors of childhood cancer, these problems are complicated, because most survivors of childhood cancer have no employment record and only family-related insurance before the onset of cancer. Relative to these issues, adults who are survivors of childhood cancer can be divided into two groups, i.e., those who are younger and those older than 30 years of age. In the older age group (30-50 years), the general indicators of economic achievement and insurability are similar to those of control subjects. Exceptions in this age group include denial of entry into the uniformed services and rejection of applications for life insurance. Survivors who are 20-29 years of age have a wider range of areas in which there is variance from control subjects, including educational achievement, employment, workplace relationships, and the ability to obtain health and life insurance.