Working From Home – The Children Conundrum

Abstract

This study examines the role of gender and presence of children in the household on work from home (WFH). Unprecedented measures were introduced during Covid-19, allowing employees in many countries to continue working from home in compliance with the quarantine requirements. During this period, the experiences and views of 312 workers in a European country (Malta) were collected, allowing us to estimate models that forecast the willingness to WFH and the quality of the work produced. Women believe they deliver higher levels of quality of work at home in contrast to men, regardless of whether they have children or not. Women with children at home report relatively higher levels of job satisfaction when working from home while all women exhibit a strong preference for additional WFH arrangements. These findings highlight that WFH experiences are both gendered and also dependent on the presence of children.