The First Comparative Study of British Workers’ Work Location and Well-Being Before, During, and After COVID-19

• In Event: Economic Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Roundtable 9: Industrial Changes and Employment

Abstract

Flexible workplace arrangements—particularly teleworking and hybrid working—have become a durable feature of the UK labour market since the Covid-19 pandemic. Although government discourse positions flexibility as a pathway to enhanced well-being and productivity, scholarly evidence suggests that its use and consequences are structured by gender and parenthood. Women, especially mothers, are often portrayed as primary beneficiaries of working from home (WFH), yet flexible arrangements may also blur work–family boundaries and intensify domestic demands.

This study reassesses both the uptake and affective consequences of WFH across the pre- (2014–2015), peri- (2020–2021), and post-Covid (2023) periods in the UK. Drawing on harmonised, nationally representative time-diary data, we move beyond binary indicators of remote work to examine episode-level duration and momentary enjoyment. Time diaries provide detailed accounts of activities and locations, enabling an analysis of how WFH is embedded within daily rhythms. Guided by Affective Events Theory and Role Switching Theory, we examine whether the institutionalisation of WFH reshapes instantaneous emotional experiences, particularly across gender and parenthood groups. Using OLS regression, fixed-effects models, and multi-channel sequence analysis, we analyse both patterns of uptake and affective well-being among professional and managerial employees.

The findings challenge conventional assumptions. As WFH becomes more prevalent in the post-Covid period, mothers spend less time working from home relative to other groups, contrary to expectations that expanded flexibility would disproportionately benefit them. Furthermore, when flexible working becomes routine rather than exceptional, women report lower enjoyment during home-based work than men.

Together, these results suggest that the normalisation of WFH does not generate uniform advantages. Instead, it may reconfigure access to flexibility and reshape emotional experiences in gendered ways. The study contributes timely evidence to debates on whether flexible workplace reforms function as genuine work–family supports or inadvertently reproduce existing inequalities in the post-pandemic UK labour market.

Authors

• Zhuofei Lu, University of Oxford

• Matthew Henglong Luo, University of Oxford

• Yucheng He, Hong Kong Univ of Science and Tech

• Man-Yee Kan