Telework: A Way to Balance Work and Family or an Increase in Work-Family Conflict?

Some see in telework a way to better balance professional and personal or family responsibilities. We analyzed the data on telework in the Workplace Employee Survey (WES) and found that only a small percentage of workers indicate that they telework because of family obligations, while for two thirds, it is because of employers’ demands. Data is compared according to gender and number of children, and again this highlights the fact that work-family balance is not the main reason for working at home. The data show that it is employers’ requirements that explain the majority of hours of work done at home.