When Home Becomes Work: Work and Family Time among Workers at Home

Abstract

Advances in information technology, the movement toward a service economy and attention to "family friendly" practices promote work arrangements that are increasingly diverse and complex. Though the topic of work scheduling and the consequences of these schedules for family life has received increased attention in recent years, there tends to be greater emphasis on "when" work takes place rather than "where" work is conducted (Han 2002, 2004; Hattery 2001; Heymann and Earle 2001; Presser 1986, 1988, 1994, 2003; Wight et al. 2008). In particular, our understanding of work conducted at home is incomplete as analyses of this work arrangement have typically been limited to somewhat dated assessments gathered from stylized questionnaires or from commuting questions asking respondents whether and how much they work from home (Deming 1994; Felstead 2001; Kraut and Grambsch 1987; Presser and Bamberger 1993). Although there are a few qualitative accounts of women's experiences with doing paid work at home (Ammons and Markham 2004; Berke 2003; Christensen 1988; Osnowitz 2005), less is known about the extent to which this work arrangement might ease work-family tensions by allowing workers more uninterrupted time for work and greater time for leisure activities as well as time with children. This article provides a more nuanced understanding of work at home patterns by examining both the 2004 CPS May Work Schedules Supplement and the 2004 American Time Use Survey (ATUS). We ask the following questions: (1) How prevalent is working at home and who does it; (2) Why do workers engage in work at home; and (3) How is work at home associated with other patterns of time use (e.g., family time and leisure)?