Home Alone: Work from Home and Loneliness

Mehrzad B. Baktash

No 2026-04, Research Papers in Economics from University of Trier, Department of Economics

Abstract: Does working from home lead to loneliness? If yes, how and for whom? Using a quasi-natural experiment and individual fixed-effects, this study shows that work from home leads to increased worker loneliness. Teleworking not only increases overall loneliness, but it also affects each of the three dimensions of loneliness (feeling isolated, feeling left out, lacking companionship). Working from home increases irregular work hours and decreases satisfaction with leisure time, dwelling, and family life. Consequently, teleworkers feel lonelier. However, the effect is highly heterogeneous. Work from home particularly exacerbates the loneliness levels of employees who are extroverted, not married, without children, living in smaller households, working in the private sector, or residing in East Germany. Importantly, this detrimental effect is mainly driven by fully working remotely. Implications are discussed.

JEL-codes: I10 I31 J81 M5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 49 pages
Date: 2026
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-soc
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:trr:wpaper:202604

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