Working from Home and Work–Family Conflict

Inga Lass , The University of Melbourne
Mark Wooden, University of Melbourne

Longitudinal evidence on whether, and under what conditions, working from home is good or bad for family life is largely absent. Using 15 waves of data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey, this study investigates the association between working from home and work–family conflict (WFC) among parents. Panel regression analysis reveals that more hours worked at home are associated with less WFC. This association, however, is only sizeable (and significant) for those working most of their hours at home. Furthermore, mothers benefit significantly more from home working than fathers. Additionally, path models suggest the association between working from home and WFC is partly mediated by the level of schedule control, commuting time, and unsocial work hours. Whereas increased schedule control and less commuting among home workers reduces WFC, home working also tends to be associated with more unsocial work hours, which increases WFC.

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 Presented in Session 61. Work and the family