Women Within Health Care Face Financial Disparities and Are More Likely to Experience Burnout

In October 2023, Claudia Goldin’s Nobel Prize had brought renewed attention to the persistent earnings gap present between men and women in the US, particularly in health care and medicine. Authors of a paper build on Goldin’s research to explore evidence that highlights these gaps, as well as the associations with motherhood and opportunities to mitigate these inequities. Additionally, these disparities extend beyond financial factors and are present within mental health and emotional well-being.^1,2

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Parenthood has an impact on income, and these are often referred to as the “motherhood penalty” for women, and the “fatherhood premium” for men. These reflect the substantial and persistent disparities within health care professionals’ earnings. This idea addresses that while parenthood decreases women’s annual income (the motherhood penalty), the men’s annual income increases. These gaps, according to the authors of the paper, are more pronounced in the earlier years of medical practice, with the gender gap in annual earnings attributable to women’s disproportionate responsibilities for bearing children and child-rearing, or raising children.¹

Even after accumulating work experience, the differences remain for women. According to the authors, estimates suggest that over a 40-year career, female health care professionals may accumulate more than $2 million less in lifetime earnings compared with their male counterparts. Women often begin with wages that are about 75% of those earned by male physicians. The imbalance is impacted by a combination of differences, both within-specialty and between-specialty.¹

In addition, women are often overrepresented in lower-paying specialties (eg pediatrics and family medicine), and these choices that may be associated with lifestyle factors that are related to women’s disproportionate caregiving burdens. Meanwhile, men are more likely to choose higher-paying specialties. The distribution of gender-based specialties contributes to some of the earnings gap; however, within-specialty disparities continue, with female health care professionals earning less than their male counterparts even within the same fields. According to the authors, women who work in surgery and internal medicine earn less than men, even though they are performing similar work. The COVID-19 pandemic only intensified these challenges because women in health care have greater family caregiving responsibilities. Data also show how the pandemic focused impacted both the clinical and academic productivity of female health care professionals with children; however, more research is needed to further confirm evidence.¹

Further, disparities in health care professions are not limited to financial inequities, and it extends to the overall well-being of women in health care. According to research, women in health care occupations are more likely to endure a significant amount of stress and burnout in compared with their male counterparts. Factors such as job satisfaction, psychological health, and work-life integration or balance were among the contributors that correlated to their well-being.²

According to authors of a 2024 study published in Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health, women make up approximately 80% of the overall growth in the health care field since the turn of the century. Along with this global increase, concerns regarding women’s well-being have also grown. Because women tend to play multiple roles within society, they are more likely to experience mental health issues that are a cause of the pressure and stress they feel to succeed both within their home life and work environment. Such issues can cause psychological distress, burnout within their working environment, depression and anxiety, rapid turnover, and in some cases, suicidal thoughts.²

To address the financial issues, JAMA authors suggest that support should be provided for women so they can better meet intermittent caregiving needs for their children, parents, or in-laws. This support can allow for them to remain in the work field without a career gap, while also alleviating workforce shortages and reducing strains within the market. Further, workplaces should also implement evidence-driven improvements to working environments and support systems for women. This can also include offering women equal access to permanent positions and promoting implementations of collective pay agreements.¹

In addition, these implementations may also improve the feelings of burnout women experience within the workplace. About 58.8% of pharmacists working in various settings reported in a Pharmacy Times® survey that their company has not taken steps toward improving the emotional well-being and burnout they experience, whereas 36.9% reported the opposite. Of the pharmacists working for companies that have made steps toward improvement, 46.3% reported they were ineffective and 9.4% believed that they were. Although this is a relatively small sample, these reports only further illustrate the need for policymakers, companies, and health care employers to implement effective methods to help prevent or mitigate burnout of health care professionals.²

According to the authors, overlooking the motherhood penalty and the pay gaps that are correlated with it within the medical field not only impedes women’s professional growth and personal fulfillment, but it can also prevent the delivery of comprehensive, patient-centered care. The authors believe that by advancing gender equity, medical practice can be improved while promoting a health care field that is as equitable as the communities that are served.¹

REFERENCES

1. Kim KM, Narayan A, Shah NR, Milstein A. Parenthood and Paychecks—The Gender Pay Gap in Medicine. JAMA. Published online October 29, 2024. doi:10.1001/jama.2024.22123

2. McGovern, G. Women More Likely to Face Burnout in Health Care, System-Wide Solutions Are Needed to Address Issues. Pharmacy Times. October 22, 2024. Accessed October 31, 2024. https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/women-more-likely-to-face-burnout-in-health-care-system-wide-solutions-are-needed-to-address-issues