This paper looks at how households are benefitting from working from home; focusing on the time and money saved when workers commute less, as well as the ability to work more hours or get a job. It finds that the clearest direct savings are from reduced time and money spent on commuting.

The evidence so far shows that the broad economic and social benefits of the working-from-home shift appear positive. It proposes that these gains should be maintained, even as the labour market softens.

The biggest beneficiaries of this participation gain have been those who previously faced greater barriers to working such as women with children – in particular young children under four, people with impactful health conditions or disability, and carers.

Key findings

• Since 2019, workforce participation has increased by 4.4%.
• Five years on from the COVID-19 pandemic, 36% of Australians still regularly work from home.
• Workers spend on average 3.4 hours less time commuting each week than if they worked the same number of hours from the office.
• People undertaking 100% of their hours from home, work 19.7% more hours in total per week compared with people who do not work from home.