TORONTO — Among resident physicians in the United States, around 98% do not make enough money to afford child care, according to a study presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting.
Ryan Brewster, MD, a resident physician at Boston Children’s Hospital, and colleagues examined data from the AMA, Labor Department and the U.S. Census Bureau on 2nd-year residents at 935 accredited residency programs and determined that child care is less likely to be affordable in urban areas and in the Mid-Atlantic, New England and West Coast compared with other areas of the country.
While resident physician salaries fell by 0.23% between 2000 and 2022, child care costs rose by 44.7% in the same time, they found. Meanwhile, child care subsidies and one-site child care were offered by just 12% and 26% of programs, respectively.
“We know that more than one in four trainees will have a kid during their training years. However, it’s unclear what type of support — financially or otherwise — that teaching hospitals are able to provide for their residents,” Brewster told Healio.
He said the results of the study suggest a “need for advocacy at a federal level to improve the determination of [graduate medical education] reimbursements at the institutional level to ensure that residents are receiving the benefits and support they need to build families.”
References:
Brewster R, et al. Childcare affordability and benefits amongst U.S. resident physicians. Presented at: Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting; May 2-6, 2024; Toronto.
Study: Childcare is unaffordable for U.S. medical residents. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1043202. Published May 3, 2024. Accessed May 4, 2024.