The 2002 CMA Physician Resource Questionnaire (PRQ) determined that 84% of Canadian physicians are currently married, living common law or living with a partner. Among doctors married to or living with a partner, 32% of females and 14% of males are living with another physician. Female physicians whose partner is a physician tend to spend fewer hours per week on professional activities than those whose partner is not (45.2 hours vs. 49.9 hours). Having a physician spouse has no impact on the number of hours per week that male physicians spend on professional activities (56.2 hours when the partner is a physician vs. 55.7 hours when he or she is not).
For female physicians, hours spent on professional activities increase as the age of the youngest child increases, and those with no children work longer hours than those with children of any age. Male physicians, on the other hand, tend to work fewer hours if they have no children at home.
Just over half (51%) of Canadian physicians have 1 or more children under age 18 at home, and for 19% of them the youngest child is under age 6. Female physicians spend an average of 42.2 hours/week with primary responsibility for their children, almost triple the time reported by male physicians (15 hours/week). For women, the age of their youngest child has an impact on hours of primary responsibility for children, ranging from 46.6 hours/week for those whose youngest child is under 6 to 36.6 hours for those whose youngest child is aged 12 to 17. The number of hours per week that male physicians have primary responsibility for their children is only very slightly related to the age of the youngest child at home (15.5 hours when the youngest child is under 6 and 14.6 hours when the youngest child is 12 to 17).
Male physicians also report spending less time on household maintenance, both indoor and outdoor, than female physicians (8 hours/week vs. 12.2 hours). — Shelley Martin, Senior Analyst, CMA Research, Policy and Planning Directorate