The coronavirus lockdown has forced those who can to work remotely. But how does the day-to-day life of a remote worker differ from someone who works in their workplace?
The first chart below shows the distribution of time spent in a day doing various activities for remote and non-remote workers.
The growth of remote working has different implications depending on gender. In 2019, a study from University College London found that less than 7% of couples share housework equally, with women undertaking the bulk of domestic duties. With remote working increasing, this imbalance could be improved, as flexible working patterns and no commuting frees up time for household tasks. Remote working is also providing mothers with opportunities to continue working, where previously having children may have put a halt on their careers.
But, despite this optimistic outlook, the chart below highlights the differences we still see between remote and non-remote workers of different genders. Female remote workers aged 18-34 who have children spend an average of three hours on children a day, almost an hour and a half longer than their non-remote counterparts. This daily schedule also only takes account of activites directly reported as caring for children, and does not include other tasks throughout the day that are undertaken while also looking after children. On average, young male remote and non-remote male workers spend less than an hour caring for children.
Use the dropdown boxes to explore how different people spend their day.