The Impact of COVID-19 on the Division of Household Labor Among Women Physicians and Advanced Practice Providers.

BACKGROUND

COVID-19 increased the burden of childcare on parents, leaving women vulnerable to increased disparities in the division of domestic labor. Women healthcare workers may be at heightened risk of worsening gender parity in the workplace as a result.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender parity in the division of household responsibilities among women healthcare workers.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional survey assessing changes in the workplace and changes in the balance of domestic duties with partners via multiple open-ended and Likert-scale type questions. Data were analyzed descriptively, including thematic analysis of free-text responses.

PARTICIPANTS

This survey study included 1459 women healthcare workers and 244 of their partners.

MAIN MEASURES: Primary outcomes were levels of responsibility for domestic labor, including housework, childcare, and child education. Free-text questions focused on the impact of household responsibilities on the workplace.

KEY

RESULTS

In total, 1459 healthcare workers identifying as women responded to this survey. Of them, 655 (45%) practice in an academic setting, and 1025 (70%) are physicians. Additionally, 244 self-identifying partners of women healthcare workers responded; the majority were men (204 [84%]), and over one-third (91 [38%]) work in healthcare. Among respondents overall, women reported doing most of the housework (52% of respondents [756/1459] versus 27% of partners [61/244]) and child education, compared with their partners (31% of respondents [451/1459] versus 23% of partners [55/244]). Thematic analysis of free-text questions revealed that women experienced worsened gender parity in the workplace because of increased household responsibilities.

CONCLUSIONS

We observed significant gender-based disparities in the division of household labor among healthcare workers, with negative impacts on work performance, focus, and academic productivity. Our results support the notion that the COVID-19 pandemic worsened gender parity in the homes of healthcare workers, thus negatively affecting gender parity in the medical workplace.