Affording Childcare on a Surgical Resident's Salary

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Health Economics

Background:

• 28.6% of surgical residents have or are expecting children.
• Limited data exists on the financial impact of childcare on surgical residents.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the net financial balance of surgical residents after accounting for childcare costs.
• To analyze financial outcomes across different postgraduate years and child ages.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study of US surgical residency programs (June-August 2024).
• Utilized publicly available salary data, childcare cost data (National Database of Childcare Prices), and expenditure data (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
• Calculated net income by subtracting expenditures and childcare costs from salaries, validated with MIT Living Wage Calculator.

Main Results:

• 98.3% of analyzed programs (290/295) resulted in a negative net income for residents with children.
• This negative balance was consistent across all child age groups and US regions.
• The West region exhibited the most negative net income (-$18,852), while the South had the least negative (-$8,636).

Conclusions:

• Surgical resident salaries are insufficient to cover living and childcare expenses for parents.
• Financial challenges may deter prospective residents and impact family planning during surgical training.
• Addressing these financial barriers is crucial for supporting surgical residents and the future surgical workforce.