Living with a disabled child can profoundly impact the entire family, affecting all areas of family functioning. This shared experience can broaden horizons, enhance family cohesion and improve awareness of inner strength. However, it can also place physical, emotional, financial and logistical demands on families.

The impacts largely depend on the severity and type of disability, as well as the physical, emotional, and financial stability of the family and the resources available to them. For parents, it may increase stress, negatively impact mental and physical health, make finding suitable and affordable childcare difficult, and influence decisions about employment, education, having more children and reliance on public support.

Caring for a disabled child can also cause feelings of guilt, blame, and diminished self-esteem, and divert attention from other elements of family life. The financial burden can be immense, potentially affecting the relationship between the parents, living arrangements, and future relationships and family structure.

Having a disabled child can influence how parents allocate time and resources to their children, their parenting practices, and expectations for both disabled and non-disabled siblings. It can also affect the siblings’ health and development, as well as the time and resources the child’s grandparents or extended family can contribute. This, in turn, can impact their relationships with the core family and their overall well-being.

Surprisingly little is known about the ripple effects of child disability on the family, with scant population-based research on economic or demographic outcomes. Further research is needed to deepen our understanding of how a child’s health influences their parents, siblings, grandparents, and extended family members.