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What Have Workers Done with the Time Freed up by Commuting Less?

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the way Americans spend their time. One of the most enduring shifts has occurred in the workplace, with millions of employees making the switch to work from home. Even as the pandemic has waned, more than 15 percent of full-time employees remain fully remote and an additional 30 percent work in hybrid arrangements (Barrero, Bloom, and Davis). These changes have substantially reduced time spent commuting to work; in the aggregate, Americans now spend 60 million fewer hours traveling to work each day. In this post, we investigate how people spend this saved time on other activities. Using detailed data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), we find that employed individuals allocate their saved commute time toward leisure activities and sleeping, while reducing overall work hours.

Suggested Citation

  • David Dam & Davide Melcangi & Laura Pilossoph & Aidan Toner-Rodgers, 2022. "What Have Workers Done with the Time Freed up by Commuting Less?," Liberty Street Economics 20221018, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fednls:94923
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    File URL: https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2022/10/what-have-workers-done-with-the-time-freed-up-by-commuting-less/
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    time use; COVID-19; pandemic; commuting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

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