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Can Work from Home Help Balance the Parental Division of Labor?

Author

Listed:
  • Hans-Martin von Gaudecker

  • Radost Holler
  • Lenard Holler
  • Christian Pugnaghi-Zimpelmann

Abstract

Remote work expanded persistently after the Covid-19 pandemic. We study whether this increased job flexibility reduced within-household specialization in the Netherlands, where the pandemic’s childcare demand spike was transitory, isolating remote work’s effect. Using time-use and administrative data from 2016–2023 and a difference-in-differences design exploiting pre-pandemic remote work potential, we find each additional hour of potential raised parental childcare by about 10 minutes. As fathers have higher potential, the childcare gender gap narrowed by one-third. Mothers also increased market work when fathers could work from home. Thus, remote work can promote more equitable household labor division.

Suggested Citation

  • Hans-Martin von Gaudecker & Radost Holler & Lenard Holler & Christian Pugnaghi-Zimpelmann, 2025. "Can Work from Home Help Balance the Parental Division of Labor?," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2025_661v2, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany, revised Mar 2026.
    • Handle: RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2025_661v2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Jean-Victor Alipour, 2025. "Does Remote Work Reinforce Gender Gaps in (Un)Paid Labor?," CESifo Working Paper Series 12052, CESifo.
    2. Titan Alon & Matthias Doepke & Jane Olmstead-Rumsey & James Symons-Hicks & Michèle Tertilt, 2026. "This Time It’s Different: The Role of Women’s Employment in Recessions," RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series 26203, ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin).

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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