Cell Phone Data Suggest Persistent Differences in Work from Home by Income, Race, and Education during the Pandemic

Nida Cakir Melek and Sungil Kim

Economic Bulletin, 2021, issue March 31, 2021, 4

Abstract: Social-distancing policies to combat the spread of COVID-19 led to an initial spike in work from home. We use high-frequency cell phone geolocation data to assess how work from home has evolved since then. We show that work from home declined as restrictions eased but remains above pre-pandemic levels. In addition, we find that differences across income, race, and education in work from home that emerged with the pandemic persist a year later.

Keywords: Work from home; COVID-19; Pandemic; Cell Phone; Mobile Phone; Telework (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I15 J21 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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