Telework, Wages, and Time Use in the United States

Abstract

Using data on full-time wage and salary workers from the 2017–2018 American Time Use Survey Leave and Job Flexibilities Module, we estimate hourly wage differentials for teleworkers and compare how workers allocate their time over the day when they work from home rather than the office. We find that some teleworkers earn a wage premium, but it varies by gender, parental status, and teleworking intensity. Fathers who telework earn more than fathers in office-based jobs, regardless of teleworking intensity. Women without children who telework occasionally earn more than their office counterparts. In industries and occupations where telework is more prevalent, mothers who work from home most days of the week pay a wage penalty compared to mothers in office-based jobs. Using time diaries, we find differences in work patterns and hours across worker groups that could drive these teleworker wage differentials. Most teleworkers work less on home days; however, those who earn wage premiums are working longer hours on weekdays, regardless of their work location. When teleworking, mothers experience more interruptions in their workdays than other workers, which could have negative effects on their productivity. We also find that teleworkers spend less time on commuting and grooming activities but more time on leisure activities and with family on work-at-home days than on office days, and female teleworkers spend more time sleeping and on household production activities.

Who is doing the chores and childcare in dual-earner couples during the COVID-19 era of working from home?

“…7.9 hours. This contrasts with Barrero et al (2020), who find that workers reallocated their commute time to working longer hours, but it is consistent with the pre-pandemic findings in Pabilonia and Vernon (2022). The WFH, the increase during the pandemic in the percentage spending time with children was only in the morning hours, 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. (Figure 5).…”

“…In a final comparison, we examine differences in the total work burden on weekday workdays by the couple's WFH status (Table 9). We find that mothers WFH spent 1.4 hours longer on paid and unpaid work combined than mothers working on-site when their partners worked on-site, which is slightly more than they saved on commuting time (Pabilonia & Vernon, 2022). These results also hold true for mothers when we examine those in dual-earner couples where both members of the couple were working full-time.…”

“…For a detailed review of the empirical literature on the relationship between telework and time allocation in the pre-pandemic period, see Pabilonia and Vernon (2021). Overall, during the pre-pandemic period when remote work was relatively uncommon, the literature suggests that fathers, but not mothers, spend more time on primary childcare on weekdays when they work from home and on the average day if they are a home-based worker, suggesting that increasing telework could close the gender care gap (Carlson et al, 2021;Lyttelton et al, 2021;Pabilonia & Vernon, 2022). However, mothers who work from home spend about a half an hour more time working with a child in their presence than do fathers, suggesting that mothers may have been more likely to be working from home to help balance their work and family responsibilities (Pabilonia &Vernon, 2022).…”

“…Overall, during the pre-pandemic period when remote work was relatively uncommon, the literature suggests that fathers, but not mothers, spend more time on primary childcare on weekdays when they work from home and on the average day if they are a home-based worker, suggesting that increasing telework could close the gender care gap (Carlson et al, 2021;Lyttelton et al, 2021;Pabilonia & Vernon, 2022). However, mothers who work from home spend about a half an hour more time working with a child in their presence than do fathers, suggesting that mothers may have been more likely to be working from home to help balance their work and family responsibilities (Pabilonia &Vernon, 2022). In addition, women increase their household production on weekdays when they work at home, but not on the average day if they are a teleworker as they shift their time across days of the week (Giménez-Nadal et al, 2019;Carlson et al, 2021;Pabilonia & Vernon, 2022).…”

“…However, mothers who work from home spend about a half an hour more time working with a child in their presence than do fathers, suggesting that mothers may have been more likely to be working from home to help balance their work and family responsibilities (Pabilonia &Vernon, 2022). In addition, women increase their household production on weekdays when they work at home, but not on the average day if they are a teleworker as they shift their time across days of the week (Giménez-Nadal et al, 2019;Carlson et al, 2021;Pabilonia & Vernon, 2022).…”