COVID-19, work from home and the organization of work time for men and women in the United States

Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina, Giménez-Nadal, José Ignacio and Sevilla, Almudena ORCID: 0000-0001-6143-5903 (2025) COVID-19, work from home and the organization of work time for men and women in the United States. In: Couch, Kenneth A., (ed.) Handbook on Inequality and COVID-19. Elgar Handbooks on Inequality. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, 151 - 166. ISBN 9781035302758

	Text (Amuedo_Gimenez_Sevilla Covid_Chapter) - Accepted Version Repository staff only until 21 March 2026. Download (1MB)
	Text (Amuedo_Gimenez_Sevilla Covid_Chapter) - Accepted Version Repository staff only until 21 March 2026. Download (1MB)

Abstract

We investigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the organization of work time using 24-hour diary data from the American Time Use Survey. We document large increases in the incidence of work from home (WFH) following the COVID-19 outbreak, with prior selectivity into WFH disappearing. Both men and women working remotely tended to work less and experience more interruptions compared to in-office employees before the pandemic. Interestingly, the prevalence of remote work in various occupations seemed to reduce work interruptions and decrease the likelihood of non-standard work hours among men before the pandemic, pointing to its productivity-enhancing potential. However, remote workers in those environments continued to experience work interruptions and be more prone to labour during non-standard work schedules compared to their in-office counterparts. Nevertheless, the role of remote work in these occupations largely disappeared during the pandemic as remote work became a more standard arrangement.

Item Type:	Book Section
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Authors
Divisions:	Social Policy
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
Date Deposited:	27 Mar 2025 16:39
Last Modified:	29 Mar 2025 00:14
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/127664

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