Can Remote Work Narrow Gender Gaps in Greedy Jobs?

Women are underrepresented in highly paid "greedy jobs" (Goldin 2014). Could flexibility over where to work narrow this gender gap? Our evidence suggests yes. Using hypothetical choice data from Maestas et al. (2023a), we show that women view work from home (WFH) as more complementary with long hours than men do. The gender difference in WFH preferences is driven by people working over 40 hours per week. In these long-hour jobs, women are willing to forgo 15.9 percent of their pay for WFH, compared to 2.4 percent for men. Women also choose longer hours when they can WFH.