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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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    1. Adams-Prassl, Abi & Boneva, Teodora & Golin, Marta & Rauh, Christopher, 2022. "Work that can be done from home: evidence on variation within and across occupations and industries," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
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    3. Iris Kesternich & Frederic Vermeulen & Alexander Wintzéus, 2024. "Twenty-Five Hours in a Day: On Job Flexibility and the Intrahousehold Allocation of Time and Money," CESifo Working Paper Series 11541, CESifo.
    4. Emma Harrington & Matthew E. Kahn, 2025. "Has the Rise of Work from Home Reduced the Motherhood Penalty in the Labor Market?," NBER Working Papers 34147, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Almudena Sevilla & Sarah Smith, 2020. "Baby steps: the gender division of childcare during the COVID-19 pandemic," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 36(Supplemen), pages 169-186.
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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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