We examine the effect of the large post-COVID increase in remote work on loneliness and mental health, using Understanding Society data from the United Kingdom. We use differences-indifferences estimators that flexibly control for a rich set of co-variates to compare changes in key variables amongst two groups: those who worked in teleworkable occupations in 2019, and those who worked in non-teleworkable occupations in 2019. We find that relative to those who worked in non-teleworkable occupations, workers in teleworkable occupations significantly increased their propensity to remote work from 2020 onwards. They also experienced higher levels of self-reported loneliness, particularly amongst women, and worse mental health. By contrast, we find no evidence of changes in job satisfaction and any improvement in work-related autonomy is limited to men. Our results suggest that the rise of remote work may contribute to increased loneliness and worsening population health, albeit at modest levels.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)