IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/glodps/1265.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Working from home and mental health: Before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Bilgrami, Anam

Abstract

Robust evidence on working from home and mental health is lacking, with recent concerns it may blur work-home boundaries. Working from home was discretionary and less intensive in pre-pandemic years, while during the pandemic, it was often intensive and 'mandated'. I estimate the relationship between working from home and mental health via fixed-effects and instrumental variable (IV) estimation. I find no evidence that working from home harmed mental health, on average, pre-pandemic, with IV estimates suggesting potentially improved health. Conversely, working from home may have deteriorated mental health during the pandemic, potentially due its 'forced', intensive nature during this time.

Suggested Citation

  • Bilgrami, Anam, 2023. "Working from home and mental health: Before and during the COVID-19 pandemic," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1265, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:1265
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/270894/1/GLO-DP-1265.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anam Bilgrami & Kompal Sinha & Henry Cutler, 2020. "The impact of introducing a national scheme for paid parental leave on maternal mental health outcomes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(12), pages 1657-1681, December.
    2. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    3. Christopher F Baum & Mark E. Schaffer & Steven Stillman, 2007. "Enhanced routines for instrumental variables/generalized method of moments estimation and testing," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 7(4), pages 465-506, December.
    4. Bertoni, Marco & Cavapozzi, Danilo & Pasini, Giacomo & Pavese, Caterina, 2021. "Remote Working and Mental Health during the First Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic," IZA Discussion Papers 14773, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Paul Frijters & David W. Johnston & Michael A. Shields, 2014. "The Effect Of Mental Health On Employment: Evidence From Australian Panel Data," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(9), pages 1058-1071, September.
    6. Milner, A. & Krnjacki, L. & Butterworth, P. & Kavanagh, A. & LaMontagne, Anthony D., 2015. "Does disability status modify the association between psychosocial job quality and mental health? A longitudinal fixed-effects analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 104-111.
    7. John Roy & Stefanie Schurer, 2013. "Getting Stuck In The Blues: Persistence Of Mental Health Problems In Australia," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(9), pages 1139-1157, September.
    8. Younghwan Song & Jia Gao, 2020. "Does Telework Stress Employees Out? A Study on Working at Home and Subjective Well-Being for Wage/Salary Workers," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(7), pages 2649-2668, October.
    9. Jason M. Fletcher & Jody L. Sindelar & Shintaro Yamaguchi, 2011. "Cumulative effects of job characteristics on health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(5), pages 553-570, May.
    10. Grossman, Michael, 1972. "On the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(2), pages 223-255, March-Apr.
    11. O'Donnell, James & Cárdenas, Diana & Orazani, Nima & Evans, Ann & Reynolds, Katherine J., 2022. "The longitudinal effect of COVID-19 infections and lockdown on mental health and the protective effect of neighbourhood social relations," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 297(C).
    12. E. Brian Faragher & M. Cass & Cary L. Cooper, 2013. "The Relationship between Job Satisfaction and Health: A Meta-Analysis," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Cary L. Cooper (ed.), From Stress to Wellbeing Volume 1, chapter 12, pages 254-271, Palgrave Macmillan.
    13. Fiona Niebuhr & Prem Borle & Franziska Börner-Zobel & Susanne Voelter-Mahlknecht, 2022. "Healthy and Happy Working from Home? Effects of Working from Home on Employee Health and Job Satisfaction," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-14, January.
    14. Katharina Hauck & Nigel Rice, 2004. "A longitudinal analysis of mental health mobility in Britain," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(10), pages 981-1001, October.
    15. Kazekami, Sachiko, 2020. "Mechanisms to improve labor productivity by performing telework," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bilgrami, A., 2023. "Working from home and mental health: before and during the COVID-19 pandemic," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 23/03, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    2. Anam Bilgrami & Kompal Sinha & Henry Cutler, 2020. "The impact of introducing a national scheme for paid parental leave on maternal mental health outcomes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(12), pages 1657-1681, December.
    3. Ohrnberger, Julius & Fichera, Eleonora & Sutton, Matt, 2017. "The dynamics of physical and mental health in the older population," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 9(C), pages 52-62.
    4. Makate, Marshall & Makate, Clifton, 2016. "The causal effect of increased primary schooling on child mortality in Malawi: Universal primary education as a natural experiment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 72-83.
    5. Peter Butterworth & Carmel Poyser & Aino Suomi, 2021. "Mental Health," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 54(4), pages 530-541, December.
    6. Brady P. Horn & Johanna Catherine Maclean & Michael R. Strain, 2017. "Do Minimum Wage Increases Influence Worker Health?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(4), pages 1986-2007, October.
    7. Renner, Anna-Theresa & Shaikh, Mujaheed & Spitzer, Sonja, 2023. "The long-term impact of maternal leave duration on smoking behavior," MPRA Paper 118675, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Melisa Bubonya & Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & David C. Ribar, 2017. "The Bilateral Relationship between Depressive Symptoms and Employment Status," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2017n10, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    9. Bastian Ravesteijn & Hans van Kippersluis & Eddy van Doorslaer, 2018. "The wear and tear on health: What is the role of occupation?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 69-86, February.
    10. Ólafsdóttir, Thorhildur & Ásgeirsdóttir, Tinna Laufey & Norton, Edward C., 2020. "Valuing pain using the subjective well-being method," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    11. MacDonald, Peter, 2013. "Labour substitution and the scope for military outsourcing," MPRA Paper 46688, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Wang, Huixia & Wang, Chenggang & Halliday, Timothy J., 2018. "Health and health inequality during the great recession: Evidence from the PSID," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 17-30.
    13. Clémentine Garrouste & Mathilde Godard, 2016. "The lasting health impact of leaving school in a bad economy : Britons in the 1970s recession," Post-Print hal-01408637, HAL.
    14. Hernández-Quevedo, Cristina & Jones, Andrew M. & Rice, Nigel, 2008. "Persistence in health limitations: A European comparative analysis," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 1472-1488, December.
    15. Ana Lucia Abeliansky & Holger Strulik, 2023. "Health and aging before and after retirement," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(4), pages 2825-2855, October.
    16. Leimer, Birgit & van Ewijk, Reyn, 2022. "No “honeymoon phase”: whose health benefits from retirement and when," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    17. Zhorayev, Olzhas, 2020. "Determinants of Trust in Police: A Cross-National Analysis," MPRA Paper 109068, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Aysit Tansel & Ceyhan Ozturk & Erkan Erdil, 2021. "The Impact of Body Mass Index on Growth, Schooling, Productivity, and Savings: A Cross-Country Study," Koç University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum Working Papers 2118, Koc University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum.
    19. Paul Contoyannis & Jinhu Li, 2017. "The dynamics of adolescent depression: an instrumental variable quantile regression with fixed effects approach," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 180(3), pages 907-922, June.
    20. Felfe, Christina & Deuchert. Eva, 2011. "The tempest: Using a natural disaster to evaluate the link between wealth and child development," Economics Working Paper Series 1146, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    mental health; working from home; worker wellbeing; instrumental variable;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D00 - Microeconomics - - General - - - General
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J81 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Working Conditions

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:1265. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/glabode.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.