Home working and social and mental wellbeing at different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK: Evidence from 7 longitudinal population surveys.
Jacques WelsBożena WielgoszewskaBettina MoltrechtCharlotte BoothMichael James GreenOlivia K L HamiltonEvangelia DemouGiorgio Di GessaCharlotte HugginsJingmin ZhuGillian SantorelliRichard J SilverwoodDaniel KopaskerRichard John ShawAlun HughesPraveetha PatalayClaire StevesNishi ChaturvediDavid J PorteousRebecca D RheadVittal Srinivasa KatikireddiGeorge B PloubidisPublished in: PLoS medicine (2023)
No clear evidence of an association between home working and mental wellbeing was found, apart from greater risk of psychological distress during the second lockdown, but differences across subgroups (e.g., by sex or level of education) may exist. Longer term shifts to home working might not have adverse impacts on population wellbeing in the absence of pandemic restrictions but further monitoring of health inequalities is required.