Teleworking and Life Satisfaction in Germany during COVID-19: The Importance of Family Structure

Journal article: We carry out a difference-in-differences analysis of a representative real-time survey conducted as part of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) study and show that teleworking had a negative average effect on life satisfaction over the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. This average effect hides considerable heterogeneity reflecting genderrole asymmetry: lower life satisfaction is only found for unmarried men and women with school-age children. The negative effect for women with school-age children disappears in 2021, suggesting adaptation to new constraints and/or the adoption of coping strategies.

Author(s)

Claudia Senik, Anthony Lepinteur, Andrew E. Clark, Conchita d’Ambrosio, Carsten Schröder

Journal
  • Journal of Population Economics
Date of publication
  • 2024
Keywords JEL
I31 M5
Keywords
  • Life satisfaction
  • Teleworking
  • Work from home
  • Gender
  • Childcare
  • COVID-19
  • SOEP
Pages
  • 1-24
Version
  • 1
Volume
  • 37