Experience and Intensity of Telework: Links with Well-being after a Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in France

• Published in: Population (English ed. : 2002) Vol. 78; no. 3; pp. 479 - 514
• Main Authors: Reboul, Elena, Pailhé, Ariane, Counil, Émilie, Dutreuilh, Catriona
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; French; Spanish
• Published: Paris Institut National d'études Démographiques 01.12.2023; INED - French Institute for Demographic Studies
• Subjects: COVID-19; Crises; Employment; Humanities and Social Sciences; Longitudinal studies; Mental health; Pandemics; Parents & parenting; Telecommuting; Well being; Work at home; Work life balance; Work organization; Working conditions; France; Telework; Covid-19 pandemic; Well-being; Division of work; Homeoffice; Gender; France; Work-life balance; EpiCov survey
• ISSN: 1634-2941; 1958-9190
• DOI: 10.3917/popu.2303.0523

Implemented on a massive scale during the Covid-19 pandemic, telework is now an established form of work organization, but its effects on workers' well-being remain a subject of debate. Drawing on data from a longitudinal survey representative of the French population (EpiCov), this article uses sequence analysis to retrace the work patterns of almost 40,000 people in paid employment and their recourse to telework during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic in France. It also uses regressions to examine the repercussions on people's work-life balance and mental health during a period of calm in the pandemic (summer 2021) when working conditions returned almost to normal. In this context, teleworking had a strongly positive impact on the work-life balance, with beneficial effects that increased with the number of days spent working from home. The benefits were greater for women and for parents, and were independent of telework experience before the pandemic. On average, telework does not seem to have affected the risk of depression or anxiety.