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Time Savings When Working from Home

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Listed:
  • Cevat Giray Aksoy
  • Jose Maria Barrero
  • Nicholas Bloom
  • Steven J. Davis
  • Mathias Dolls
  • Pablo Zarate

Abstract

We quantify the commute time savings associated with work from home, drawing on data for 27 countries. The average daily time savings when working from home are 72 minutes in our sample. We estimate that work from home saved about two hours per week per worker in 2021 and 2022, and that it will save about one hour per week per worker after the pandemic ends. Workers allocate 40 percent of their time savings to their jobs and about 11 percent to caregiving activities. People living with children allocate more of their time savings to caregiving.

Suggested Citation

  • Cevat Giray Aksoy & Jose Maria Barrero & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis & Mathias Dolls & Pablo Zarate, 2023. "Time Savings When Working from Home," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 113, pages 597-603, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:apandp:v:113:y:2023:p:597-603
    DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20231013
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Barrero, Jose Maria & Bloom, Nick & Davis, Steven J., 2020. "Why Working From Home Will Stick," SocArXiv wfdbe, Center for Open Science.
    2. Jose Maria Barrero & Nick Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2020. "60 Million Fewer Commuting Hours Per Day: How Americans Use Time Saved by Working from Home," Working Papers 2020-132, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
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    Cited by:

    1. Cevat Giray Aksoy & Jose Maria Barrero & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J Davis & Mathias Dolls & Pablo Zarate, 2023. "Working from Home Around the Globe: 2023 Report," EconPol Policy Brief 53, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    2. Ghinami, Francesca, 2023. "Effects of remote work on population distribution across cities: US evidence from a QSE model," SocArXiv krnzq, Center for Open Science.
    3. Tahlyan, Divyakant & Mahmassani, Hani & Stathopoulos, Amanda & Said, Maher & Shaheen, Susan & Walker, Joan & Johnson, Breton, 2024. "In-person, hybrid or remote? Employers’ perspectives on the future of work post-pandemic," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    4. Benjamin Schneider & Jane Whittle, 2024. "Where is the Place in the History of Work? Worksites, Workspaces, and the Home-Work Nexus," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _213, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    5. Lalinsky, Tibor & Anyfantaki, Sofia & Benkovskis, Konstantins & Bergeaud, Antonin & Bun, Maurice & Bunel, Simon & Colciago, Andrea & De Mulder, Jan & Lopez, Beatriz Gonzalez & Jarvis, Valerie & Krasno, 2024. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and policy support on productivity," Occasional Paper Series 341, European Central Bank.
    6. Coskun, Sena & Dauth, Wolfgang & Gartner, Hermann & Stops, Michael & Weber, Enzo, 2024. "Working from Home Increases Work-Home Distances," CEPR Discussion Papers 18914, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Pablo Zarate & Mathias Dolls & Steven J. Davis & Nicholas Bloom & Jose Maria Barrero & Cevat Giray Aksoy, 2024. "Why Does Working from Home Vary Across Countries and People?," NBER Working Papers 32374, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Yang, Heetae, 2024. "The utility of remote work solutions in the post-pandemic era: Exploring the mediating effects of productivity and work flexibility," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    9. Lewandowski, Piotr & Lipowska, Katarzyna & Smoter, Mateusz, 2024. "Preference for working from home – subjective perceptions of COVID-19 matter more than objective information on occupational exposure to contagion," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    10. Benjamin Cowan, 2024. "Time use, college attainment, and the working-from-home revolution," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(3), pages 1-27, September.
    11. Lee, Kangoh, 2023. "Working from home as an economic and social change: A review," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • M54 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Labor Management

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