The Gender Penalty: Reasons for Differences in Reported Weekly Work Hours Among Male and Female Family Physicians

The JABFM policy brief by Wilkensen et al1 highlights gender differences in work hours between male and female family physicians, with men reporting significantly more hours of total and direct patient care across age groups. This comes as no surprise to me as a female family physician with 3 young children who has shifted to part-time clinical work in no small part due to the competing demands of work and family. Many of my female medical school and residency classmates have followed similar paths. Some have left patient care altogether for administrative, research, or government positions, while others have transitioned to part-time clinical jobs. Traditional gender roles are still very much at play. The “invisible work” of raising children often falls on mothers, regardless of employment status. This begins with breastfeeding (and the natural carry-over to the intensive caregiving responsibilities of infancy) and evolves into scheduling doctor’s appointments, completing school forms, coordinating activities, and arranging childcare, among thousands of other small tasks that cumulatively take up hours over the course of the week.

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