Five years ago, a global pandemic yanked the fringe concept of working from home into the mainstream. Now, as so many companies try to get their workers back into the office, new research out of Australia hints that where we work—and how far we travel to get there – might influence us more than we thought.
A team of University of Melbourne researchers report that long commute times threaten the mental health of men already battling mental health issues. While working from home boosts women with similar struggles.
The study, appearing in Social Science & Medicine, relies on 18 years of national panel data. It also appears to be the first to clear up whether mental-health gains from remote work stem from working at home itself. Or if the commute is the problem.
Small Commute Effects. But Only for Men.
Using data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, the researchers looked at working adults between 2002 and 2019. Despite a steady rise in commuting times over those years, the average Australian worker didn’t seem to suffer much in terms of mental health as commute lengths grew.
But the averages – at least in this case – are deceiving. When the team applied unconditional quantile regression, they uncovered a pocket of weakness. For men below the median of the mental-health distribution, longer commutes dramatically aggravated psychological wellbeing. For men with higher baseline mental health, commute times didn’t matter.
It made a real difference, however modest. An extra 30 minutes of commuting forecast a drop equivalent to a 2% reduction in household income. The effect, the authors suggest, could reflect the stress of traffic, road congestion, and Australia’s car-heavy commute culture. It’s worth noting that nearly three-quarters of the nation’s workers must drive to the office.
Remote Work Helps Women Most.
On the other hand, Australian women – unlike their UK counterparts, where similar studies revealed notable negative ramifications – displayed no mental-health penalty from longer commutes.
The authors suggest that Australia’s more generous childcare subsidies might shield mothers from the pressures that magnify commuting stress elsewhere. Childcare costs in Australia consume roughly half the household budget share paid by British families.
Working From Home
The study’s most striking finding concerns working from home. Simply having a remote option wasn’t enough. The benefits appeared only when employees spent at least half their working hours at home.
For women with low mental health to start with, the gains shocked the researchers. Working from home between 50% and 75% of the time boosted mental-health scores by about 0.2 standard deviations. That’s an improvement that works out to a 15% jump in household income. Ironically, women working almost entirely from home didn’t experience the same effect. The researchers figure that it suggests that remote work works best when it’s substantial, but not total.
Men, however, didn’t enjoy any statistically reliable mental-health benefits from working from home. While they might indirectly benefit from avoiding a stressful commute, working from home itself doesn’t seem to do much for their well-being.
So, What Gives?
Gender norms around care and work probably exert some influence here. Women more often handle household coordination, so schedule flexibility can make a much bigger difference. In that context, remote work might ease the daily burdens unrelated to employment itself.
For men, stress appears more tied to the commute than the job. And because Australian men remain less likely to seek mental-health help, the authors posit that their stress might build up without intervention – especially among those already struggling.
A Case for a More Targeted Remote-Work Policy
The study’s central message appears to be that we can’t really assess the value of remote work just by looking at the averages. For workers with stable mental health, long commutes or remote work doesn’t do much. But for workers with poor mental health, policy and workplace design make a huge difference.
The findings suggest that remote work isn’t simply a lifestyle perk. But it’s not a panacea, either.
Instead, well-designed hybrid models could serve as targeted mental-health interventions for the workers who need them most.
As the battle over return-to-office mandates rages on, the authors argue that flexibility for vulnerable workers could offer measurable mental-health protection..
Further Reading
Work Hours, Sleep Sufficiency, and Prevalence of Depression Among Full-Time Employees
Employee Mental Health is a Global Issue
Work It Boomers: Delaying Retirement May Slow Cognitive Decline
