Effects of shift to remote work: more sleep, leisure time, small baby boom

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the National Bureau of Economic Research released research on the effects of the shift to remote work in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These effects include “a substantial fall in time spend working,” “notable increases in leisure time and sleeping,” and “a small ‘baby bump’ among U.S.-born mothers.”

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York analysis took a look at what Americans are doing with the 60 million fewer hours they spend traveling to work each day. The answer was not just at-home work. The the analysis found “the decrease in hours worked away from home is only partially offset by an increase in working at home.” It appears some of that extra time was redirected to sleep and leisure time.

“The rise in leisure was particularly pronounced among younger Americans, who reported spending more time at social events, eating at restaurants or bars, and exercising,” the authors of the analysis wrote. “Older age groups, on the other hand, tended to allocate more time to nonmarket work, such as activities related to childcare, the maintenance of the household, repairs, and meal preparation.”

Meanwhile, a working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research took a look at the effects of remote work and the COVID-19 pandemic on childbearing. Authors found that the COVID-19 pandemic led to a net increase of 46,000 children born to U.S. mothers, which was the result of both a small increase in births among U.S.-born mothers in 2020 and a “baby bump” in 2021.

The 2021 baby bump is the first major reversal in declining U.S. fertility rates since 2007 and was most pronounced for first births and women under age 25, which suggests the pandemic led some women to start their families earlier,” the authors of the paper wrote. “Above age 25, the baby bump was also pronounced for women ages 30-34 and women with a college education, who were more likely to benefit from working from home.”

The Hill contributed to this report.