What was the experience of home-working for UK women during the pandemic, and how did this impact future working preferences? Submission to the Home-based Working Select Committee

During the Covid-19 pandemic, traditional ideas about work and home quickly changed and spaces became blurred for employees around the world. Homes became infiltrated with work-related equipment, and newly formed workspaces afforded others a window into private domestic life. Women are already disadvantaged in the workplace, and this increased during the pandemic, with stories of greater responsibility for domesticity and childcare provision.

We interviewed 16 professional working women living in the UK about their experiences of home and work during the pandemic and beyond, to give voice to individuals who had to rapidly renegotiate work and home spaces and continue to do so.

We identified 3 broad themes which summarise participants’ experiences of negotiating new ways of (hybrid) working post pandemic, and their perceived challenges and opportunities: (1) Blurred Work-Home Boundaries; (2) Flexibility Coupled with Heightened Mental Load, and (3) Evolving Professional Identity and Social Dynamics.