The organisation of labour and work-life arrangements continuously change across time. One significant change is that remote and digital work arrangement have been more common in the struggle of achieving a sustainable working life. However, more research is needed to analyse whether the flexibility of remote work arrangements has influenced how women and men involve themselves in professional and personal matters.
The present study aims to investigate the relationships between work from home and level of involvement in household work and paid work among women and men in Europe working in the public sector. The analyses are based on the 6th European Working Conditions Survey where more than 40 000 workers from 35 countries were interviewed on different aspects of working life. The sample used in this study consists of roughly 10 000 people working in the public sector.
Preliminary results indicate that the extent of work from home is related to what extent individuals involve themselves in household labour and paid work. Separate analyses of women and men indicate that women became more involved in paid work, and men more involved in household work, when working from home compared to those who mostly work at a workplace.
The results challenge and provide a more nuanced picture compared to most previous research which has indicated that working from home can further reinforce social inequality between men and women regarding responsibility for household labour and involvement in paid work. Work from home rather seems to counteract the gendered division of labour.