Work from Home and Fertility

Cevat Giray Aksoy, Jose Maria Barrero, Nicholas Bloom, Katelyn Cranney, Steven Davis, Mathias Dolls and Pablo Zarate

No 21250, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: We investigate how fertility relates to work from home (WFH) in the post-pandemic era, drawing on original data from our Global Survey of Working Arrangements and U.S. Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes. Realized fertility from 2023 to 2025 and future planned fertility are higher among adults who WFH at least one day a week and, for couples, higher yet when both partners do so. Estimated lifetime fertility is greater by 0.32 children per woman when both partners WFH one or more days per week as compared to the case where neither does. The implications for national fertility rates differ across countries due mainly to large differences in WFH rates. In a complementary analysis using other U.S. data before and after the pandemic, one-year fertility rates rise with WFH opportunities in one’s own occupation and, for couples, in the partner’s occupation.

Keywords: Remote work; Fertility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-03
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