Employee Benefits Study
What Is the Prevalence of Special Health Care Needs Among Children?
Approximately 13% of children and adolescents in the U.S. have a chronic condition or special health care need . Because not all chronic health conditions cause disability in children or affect their ability to do what all other children do, current estimates are that about 7% of children and adolescents have a limitation of activity or disability from a chronic condition. However, in 1960, this rate was just 2% - a tripling over the last few decades.
From 1960 to 1980, much of the growth in rates of both chronic conditions and disability came from improvements in child survival, as medical advances improved the treatment and outcomes of many childhood conditions (e.g., leukemia, cystic fibrosis, congenital heart disease). By 1980, at least 80% of possible improvements in survival among children with serious chronic health conditions had been achieved. From 1980 to the present, much of the growth in rates of chronic conditions reflects new epidemics of more common chronic conditions – especially asthma, obesity, and mental health conditions (e.g., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, and autism). The challenge for children and their families has now become how to nurture the best long-term growth and development in the context of a chronic or disabling condition.
Among the more common conditions today are asthma and obesity – each affecting about 12% of the child and adolescent population; also, learning disabilities (about 7%), ADHD (6%), mental retardation (4%), and congenital heart disease (almost 2%). Other conditions such as seizures, sickle cell disease, leukemia, childhood diabetes, and cystic fibrosis are less common (each occurring in less than 1% of children).
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What Does “Child with Special Need” Mean?
The term “child with a special need” or “child with a special health care need” is used to refer to any child who experiences one or more of a vast array of physical, developmental, behavioral, or mental health chronic conditions or disabilities that includes but is not limited to:
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Physical disabilities and chronic conditions such as blindness, deafness, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, epilepsy, and asthma
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Developmental conditions such as Downs Syndrome and mental retardation
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Mental health and behavioral conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism , depression, substance abuse, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia
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Learning disabilities such as dyslexia, dyspraxia (sensory integration disorder), and central auditory disorder
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Why Focus on the Workplace?
It is now estimated that twenty percent of families are raising children with special needs1. And most of these parents, both mothers and fathers, are in the labor force. What does this mean for employers and employees in the workplace? It means that a significant number of employees have children with special needs. According to the Families and Work Institute in New York, a leading nonprofit center for work-life research, 43 percent of employees in the U.S. have dependent children under eighteen. If 20% of families have a child with a chronic health condition, then we can expect that in any given company, about 8.6 percent of its workforce will be caring for children with special needs (.43 * .20). This means that
A large company with 30,000 employees has approximately 2,580 employees caring for one or more children with special health care needs
A mid-sized company with 2,000 employees has approximately 172 employees caring for children with special health care needs.
A small company with 500 employees has about 43 employees caring for children with special health care needs.
These working parents need employment benefits and workplace supports that help them balance their unique parenting responsibilities with the demands of their jobs and careers. The most important benefits and workplace supports that help these employees maintain their employment and continue to contribute effectively and efficiently in the workplace are:
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Flexible work arrangements (e.g. flexible schedules and telecommuting) to:
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schedule appointments (e.g. with doctors or schools) that usually occur during typical work hours
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care for a child when appropriate child care services are not available
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Flexible use of leave time to care for a sick child
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Help locating and coordinating services and care for their child
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Appropriate, affordable, and comprehensive health care benefits to cover the types of services, medication, and providers a child with a special need may require.
