Effects of autism spectrum disorder on parental employment in the United States: evidence from the National Health Interview Survey

Using results of the US National Health Interview Survey (US-NHIS) for the years 1998-2013 we investigated the impact of having a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) on parents' work behavior. After controlling for numerous background characteristics, we found that having a child with ASD lowered the number of hours of market work per week and the number of months of market work in the previous year for mothers. For fathers, having a child with ASD also reduced the number of hours of market work per week and the number of months of market work in the previous year. However, the magnitude of the effects were smaller for fathers than for mothers, and more sensitive depending on whether the estimates were derived from a linear regression model or propensity score models. Some evidence was also found that the impact of having a child with ASD on parents' market work depended on whether or not the child with ASD also had an intellectual disability, the parent's education level, immigration status, and parent race/ethnicity.