The relationship between hours worked and partner's disability in opposite- and same-sex couples

When a partner is disabled and not in the labour force, the need for earnings provided by the non-disabled partner increases. However, the disabled partner's need for care raises the value of time spent at home by the non-disabled partner. The direction of the relation between partner disability and hours worked varies with couple type because connecting links are affected by couple type. Relevant issues include foregone earnings, amount of income lost by the disabled partner, accumulated savings and healthcare coverage. In order to determine whether there is a significant relation between hours worked and having a disabled partner, controlling for other characteristics, Tobit regression equations were estimated using the US 2000 Decennial Census 5% sample. Among same-sex partners, unmarried opposite-sex partners and married men, individuals with disabled partners worked fewer hours in the labour force than did those without disabled partners. Only among married women did those with a disabled partner work more hours.