Nearly half of employed women worked at home on days worked in 2020

As many employers expanded the use of telework, the percentage of employed people working at home on the days they worked nearly doubled, rising from 22 percent in 2019 to 42 percent in 2020. These averages include all time spent working at home, whether or not the work was done on a scheduled workday. The percentage of employed people who worked at their workplace on days worked fell from 81 percent in 2019 to 63 percent in 2020.

Both men and women were more likely to work at home on days they worked in 2020 compared with 2019. The share of employed men who worked at home increased by 16 percentage points from 2019, and the share of employed women increased by 23 percentage points. As a result, about one-third of employed men, and nearly one-half of employed women, worked at home on days worked in 2020.

By industry, from 2019 to 2020, there were large increases in the percentage of employed persons working at home on days worked for those employed in financial activities (up 40 percentage points); professional and business services (up 25 percentage points); and education and health services (up 23 percentage points). By contrast, there were smaller increases for workers in leisure and hospitality (up 8 percentage points); transportation and utilities (up 9 percentage points); wholesale and retail trade (up 10 percentage points); and manufacturing (up 11 percentage points).

These data are from the American Time Use Survey. For more information, see "American Time Use Survey — May to December 2019 and 2020 Results."