Longitudinal association of injury or illness with employment and income among young adults

Objectives To examine how recent injury or illness is associated with employment and income among young adults. Study design Retrospective longitudinal cohort study. Methods Using 2001–2021 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort data (adults aged 18–41 years), we evaluated associations between self-reported recent injury or illness and employment status as well as log-transformed personal income. Results 102,642 interviews (8628 respondents) were included, of which 39% involved recent injury or illness. At the most recent interview, 4% of respondents were unemployed, 18% were out of the labor force (OLF), and median personal income was $33,000. Respondents with recent injury or illness were less likely to be unemployed (relative risk ratio [RRR]: 0.91; 95% CI: 0.85, 0.97; p = 0.003) or OLF (RRR: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.83, 0.92; p < 0.001) and had a 67% higher income (β = 0.51; 95% CI: 0.43, 0.59; p < 0.001) than respondents who did not report injury or illness. These associations were explained by controlling for sick leave eligibility (employment outcomes) and lagging the exposure by two years (employment and income outcomes). Conclusions Recent injuries or illnesses among young adults did not reduce employment or income, although this finding is confounded by availability of sick leave eligibility or other aspects of economic advantage.