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60 Million Fewer Commuting Hours Per Day: How Americans Use Time Saved by Working from Home

Author

Listed:
  • Jose Maria Barrero

    (Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México - Business School)

  • Nick Bloom

    (Stanford University - Department of Economics; NBER)

  • Steven J. Davis

    (University of Chicago - Booth School of Business; NBER; Hoover Institution)

Abstract

Drawing on original surveys of our own design, we estimate that the pandemic-induced shift to working from home lowers commuting time among Americans by more than 60 million hours per work day. Cumulative time savings over the past seven months exceed 9 billion hours. Our survey data also say that Americans devote about 35% of the time savings to their primary jobs and about 60% to work activities of all sorts, including household chores and child care. The allocation of time savings is broadly similar for men and women and across groups defined by race and ethnicity, but it differs substantially by education group and between persons with and without children at home.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:bfi:wpaper:2020-132
    as

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    File URL: https://repec.bfi.uchicago.edu/RePEc/pdfs/BFI_WP_2020132.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erik Brynjolfsson & John J. Horton & Adam Ozimek & Daniel Rock & Garima Sharma & Hong-Yi TuYe, 2020. "COVID-19 and Remote Work: An Early Look at US Data," NBER Working Papers 27344, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Alexander Bick & Adam Blandin & Karel Mertens, 2023. "Work from Home before and after the COVID-19 Outbreak," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 1-39, October.
    3. Jose Maria Barrero & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2020. "COVID-19 Is Also a Reallocation Shock," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 51(2 (Summer), pages 329-383.
    4. Dingel, Jonathan I. & Neiman, Brent, 2020. "How many jobs can be done at home?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
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