Quantitative study in an analytical report

The Impact of Remote Work on Gender Equality in the Labour Market - An Analysis of the Relationship Between Remote Work and Working Hours

Summary

Increasing gender equality in the labor market has been on the political agenda for a long time. In Sweden, women’s and men’s participation in the labour market is almost equally high, and although there has been an equalization during the 2000s, there is still a clear gender segregation both in terms of occupational areas and distribution of work within an occupation/organization.

In December 2023, the Swedish Government commissioned the Swedish Agency for Work Environment Expertise to report on how increased remote work after the Covid-19 pandemic affects gender equality in the labor market, and this knowledge review has been produced to answer this question.

By summarizing, analysing, and presenting existing research in the field, the study addresses its main research questions:

• How do the conditions for remote work differ between women and men in the labour market after the pandemic?
• How does remote work after the pandemic affect
  a) career and salary development,
  b) productivity, and
  c) the possibility of a sustainable work-life balance, from a gender equality perspective?

At an overall level, it is concluded that the relationship between gender equality and remote work is complex — remote work may promote equality in some respects while counteracting it in others.

Authors

The knowledge compilation was written by Lena Grip, Associate Professor of Human Geography, Department of Geography, Media and Communication at Karlstad University, and Ulrika Åkerlund, PhD in Human Geography, Department of Geography, Media and Communication at Karlstad University.

The analysis report was written by Karin Halldén, Associate Professor at the Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University.