Remote Work and Women's Labor Supply: The New Gender Division at Home

Abstract

We study how increases in remote work opportunities for men affect their spouses' labor supply. Exploiting variation in the change in work-from-home (WFH) exposure across occupations before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, we find that increases in men's WFH exposure led to sizable improvements in their wives' labor-market outcomes: annual employment rose by roughly 2.5 percentage points (from a 69% pre-treatment mean), earnings increased by about 5%, weekly hours worked rose by roughly half an hour, weeks worked increased by about 1.3%, and the likelihood of part-time work declined by approximately 9%. Evidence from time-use diaries and childcare questionnaires suggests these effects are driven by intra-household reallocation of child-caring time: women are less likely to engage in primary childcare activities, while men working at home partially compensate by covering more for their spouse. These results highlight the role of households in shaping the labor market consequences of remote work.