An examination of determinants influencing the desire for and frequency of part-day and whole-day homeworking

This paper presents findings and analysis based upon the third wave of a national longitudinal survey in the UK which is examining part-day homeworking and comparing it with whole-day homeworking. Survey results confirm earlier findings that there is a higher incidence, amongst full-time paid employees, of part-day homeworking than whole-day homeworking. The paper then separately examines determinants of the desire to part-day homework and whole-day homework and determinants of the reported frequency of part-day homeworking and whole-day homeworking. The determinants considered are socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents and belief statements relating to homeworking. Four statements are found to be relevant to desire to part-day and to whole-day homework: avoiding interruptions at work; avoiding wasted time in traffic; other household members appreciating the employee homeworking; and working longer hours. A similar comparison concerning actual frequency of homeworking finds that employer support is relevant for both homeworking practices, with part-day homeworking being associated with avoiding interruptions at work and whole-day homeworking frequency also being associated with commute struggle. For both forms of working practice, the belief statements are better able to explain desire to homework (more) than to explain frequency of homeworking. This is perhaps not surprising given the variability of work patterns at the level of the individual that can occur from week-to-week. The better performance of desire models for whole-day homeworking compared to those for part-day homeworking suggest that other factors are at play that remain to be identified in future examination of part-day homeworking.