Women in Medicine: Exclusive Survey—The financial picture - Our latest Financial Survey shows women physicians still trailing their male colleagues

Women in Medicine: Exclusive Survey—The financial picture - Our latest Financial Survey shows women physicians still trailing their male colleagues—but the numbers don't tell the whole st

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Women in Medicine: Exclusive Survey—The financial picture

Our latest Financial Survey shows women physicians still trailing their male colleagues—but the numbers don't tell the whole story

Sep 2, 2005
By: Marcy Tolkoff, JD
Medical Economics

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Vital Signs. Photo by Michael J. Maloney, Black Star

In the four years since we last surveyed our female readers on the state of their finances, they've made definite strides, albeit fairly small ones. The so-called gentler sex has a bountiful median net worth of $500,000. Although that's just half what their male colleagues are worth, they've narrowed the gap since our 2001 Financial Survey, when their net worth was only 43 percent of men's. And keep in mind that women's new net worth numbers reflect 10 fewer years of income production; the typical female respondent to our survey is 44 years old, the typical male is 54. In our earlier survey, the median age of both male and female respondents was 44.

While that 10-year difference may be one explanation for the gap in net worth, other factors undoubtedly come into play, including differing levels of income. According to our 2005 Continuing Survey of physicians' incomes, women doctors report a median income of $140,000 compared to men's $200,000. (A broader range of specialities were included in the Continuing Survey than in the Financial Survey.) When you look at median family income, as studied in this survey, women physicians' households are only $20,000 less than men's—$180,000 compared to $200,000. Women are also less likely to have help with basic living expenses: Nearly one woman in four is not married; that number is one in 10 for men. So there may be proportionately less available to women for savings and investments.

The retirement stash

Whether a woman physician is the sole support of her family or not, 2004 was not a year you'd expect to see a large growth in net worth for men or women. About one third of both sexes say family income stayed the same; 21 percent of women and 24 percent of men say they actually lost ground. For men, the drop was a median 15 percent, but for women, it was 22 percent.

No picture that looks at those key pulse points of net worth and income, however, can ignore the enduring biological and societal factors that come into play for women physicians. When women enter practice after medical school and residency, they've already spent years pressing the snooze button on their biological clocks. When they finally do take time out to start a family, this often stops the income stream or slows it to a trickle.

Other investments. Photo by Larry Hamill, Black Star

For many, time tops money when it comes to priorities: "I took an income cut to improve the quality of my life," says Deani Iversen, an ob/gyn from Beaverton, OR. "Even though I'll gross approximately 50 percent less since changing employers, I'm home more. The extra money just wasn't worth the stress and time away from my family." She isn't alone: Our survey shows that 11 percent of women worked 20 hours per week or less; only 7 percent of men put in that little time.

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