Understanding how working from home impacts the wellbeing of Australians

The problem

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence of working from home has increased considerably and is likely to stay above pre-pandemic levels in the long term. But what are the effects of working from home on workers and their families? While there is a growing body of research into working from home in Australia and internationally, the significant increase in the incidence of working from home requires much deeper study.

The research

This project begins to address this gap by investigating the effects of working from home on a range of different worker outcomes, including job satisfaction, commuting time, health, and work-family conflict. Primarily, it uses longitudinal data from the Australian HILDA Survey, alongside German survey data from the FReDA Study, Pairfam, and BiBB/BAuA Employment Survey, as well as reviewing existing research. Parts of the project are conducted in collaboration with researchers from the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) in Germany. Findings suggest mostly positive effects of working from home for worker wellbeing – although the effects depend on the extent of working from home, gender, parental status and other factors.

The impact

Given working from home is likely here to stay, the research makes an important contribution to the academic literature and current public debates. Insights from the project will support employers and policy makers in developing strategies to enhance the wellbeing of the large number of people working from home.

Department: Melbourne Institute 
Area: working from home