Impacts of working from home on mental health tracked in study of Australians

Summary

Working from home can positively impact the mental health of Australian men and women in different ways, according to a new study of more than 16,000 people.Researchers at the University of Melbourne analysed 20 years of data compiled in the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey to understand how working from home can shape a person's mental wellbeing.The study's results detailed significant improvements to the wellbeing of people who were already living with mental health issues and worked from home.Researchers say they found no notable change among people who were not already dealing with mental health concerns.The mental health of Australian men was not significantly impacted by working from home, but their wellbeing improved by not having to travel to a workplace. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)Australian women who were already living with a mental health issue were found to experience the most benefits when they combined working between 50 and 75 per cent of their rostered hours from home with a "partial office/on-site presence"."The most important finding of the study is that of hybrid work," Jan Kabatek, a researcher at the University of Melbourne and co-author of the study, told the ABC."The biggest gains for women were found for work from home arrangements, which involved the majority of days spent at home, but retaining at least one or two days of work from the office or on-site."You are retaining the connection to the firm and to your colleagues, you can talk in person, and you are retaining those social ties, but you also have this work-from-home aspect that is strong enough to make a difference."The findings show that while the mental health of Australian men was not significantly impacted by working from home, their wellbeing was positively impacted by a reduction in daily commuting times when they did not have to travel to work.This year's HILDA Survey showed Australia's average daily commute time had dropped between 2002 and ...