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Work from Home and Perceptions of Career Prospects of Employees with Children

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Kurowska

    (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Political Studies and International Relations)

  • Agnieszka Kasperska

    (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences)

Abstract

This study explores how various work and family-related contexts moderated the link between work-from-home (WFH) and self-perceived changes to the career prospects among employees with children after over a year of the COVID-19 pandemic. We argue that the link between WFH and the perception of changes to one’s career prospects is likely to differ depending on gender, occupation, whether the employee has worked from home before the pandemic, how much time their children spent at home due to pandemic restrictions and the cohabiting status of the parent. We conducted fixed effects multinomial regression models using a unique multi-country dataset, including representative samples of parents with dependent children from Canada, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden, and the US. Employees with children who had prior experience with WFH before the pandemic were more likely to report improved career prospects than those who worked solely in the office. The positive effect of WFH for newcomers to the world of remote work was less unequivocal and varied based on occupation and gender. We also find that the presence of children at home and the cohabitation status substantially moderate the link between WFH and perceived changes to one’s career prospects, with different implications based on the employee's gender. We fill the research gap by showing how fluid workers' perceptions of career prospects depend on varying professional (prior experience with WFH and occupation) and personal (increased family demands) situations. This study also indicates the need for context-sensitive career management in organisations.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Kurowska & Agnieszka Kasperska, 2024. "Work from Home and Perceptions of Career Prospects of Employees with Children," Working Papers 2024-08, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
  • Handle: RePEc:war:wpaper:2024-08
    as

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    File URL: https://www.wne.uw.edu.pl/download_file/4260/0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    career prospects; family; gender; work from home; remote work;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

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