Do people have more children if they work from home? The simple answer is yes. A recent study finds that working from home is linked to higher fertility. In other words, among working people, more time at home means more births.
Across 38 countries, including those in Europe, estimated lifetime fertility is higher by 0.32 children per woman when both partners work from home at least one day per week, compared with couples where neither does. In the United States, the increase rises to 0.45 children per woman.
These findings come from research by Steven J. Davis and colleagues, published as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) under the title ‘Work from Home and Fertility’.
Lifetime fertility is defined as children ever born to, or fathered by, the respondent plus plans for future fertility. That means it includes both realised and planned. The sample consists of adults aged 20 to 45.
0.32 more children if both partners work from home
In the sample, the average number of children per woman is 2.26 when neither partner works from home (No WFH). This refers to people who worked for pay in the previous week, meaning they are not unemployed. They work at employer or client sites.
If the woman works from home at least one day per week, lifetime fertility rises to 2.48 children. If both partners do so, it increases further to 2.58.
If the man works from home at least one day per week, the increase is more limited at 2.36 children.
What explains the increase?
The increase in fertility is significant when parents work at least one day from home. So, how does this work? What mechanisms could explain the link between working from home (WFH) and higher fertility in households?
The research points to three basic possibilities.
1) By making it easier to combine childcare with paid employment, WFH jobs lead women and their partners to choose to have more children.
2) Families with children choose jobs that offer WFH options, but fertility is insensitive to WFH status.
3) The availability of WFH jobs raises fertility by expanding current and future opportunities to select into parent-friendly jobs.
“All three stories align with the idea that WFH jobs make it easier for parents to combine child rearing and employment,” the report suggests.
The researchers find ‘clear evidence’ that fertility rates rise with WFH opportunities. This pattern holds after the pandemic (2023-25) and before the pandemic (2017-19).
Country-level results rely on WFH rate
The implications for national fertility rates differ across countries mainly due to large differences in working-from-home rates.
Among workers aged 20–45, the share who work from home at least one day per week ranges from 21 percent in Japan to 60 percent in Vietnam. This means each country has many people who sometimes work from home and many who never do.
Working from home is relatively uncommon in many European countries, while the United Kingdom (UK) ranks third globally and leads Europe 54 percent.
At the national level, the magnitude of fertility depends on how common working from home is. The shift to hybrid and fully remote work after the pandemic has been very uneven across countries, as the chart above shows.
“Bringing WFH rates to the levels that currently prevail in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada has the potential to materially boost fertility in many other countries,” the report suggests.
The report estimates that, if “interpreted causally”, WFH accounts for 8.1 percent of US fertility. This is equal to about 291,000 births per year as of 2024. The research notes that, while this contribution may seem modest, it is larger than the effect of government spending on early childhood care and education in the United States.
Avoid creating unhappier workers and lower productivity
The research points out that the desire to work remotely differs greatly across people, and its practicality differs greatly across jobs and organisations.
“Thus, policy interventions that push for a one-size-fits-all approach to working arrangements are likely to yield unhappier workers and lower productivity,” it warns.
A United Kingdom Parliament report also found that remote and hybrid work can boost employment. Parents, carers and people with disabilities are likely to benefit the most from more flexible work options.
Via Euronews
