Birth Rate Could Rise Sharply Due to WFH

JAKARTA - The policy of working from home or work from home (WFH) has brought unexpected impacts. In addition to providing work flexibility, WFH is also associated with an increase in fertility rates or birth rates.

A recent study covering 38 countries found that couples who work from home have a higher tendency to have children than those who work entirely in an office or client location.

Quoted from the Euro News website, this finding comes from a study by Steven J. Davis and his colleagues, which was published as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) with the title "Work from Home and Fertility"

The research showed the number of children, both those already owned and those planned for, increased by about 0.32 children per woman when both partners worked from home at least one day a week.

This phenomenon shows a fairly clear relationship, namely the more time spent at home, the greater the likelihood of a couple having a child.

On average, women who do not work from home have about 2.26 children. However, this figure increases to 2.48 children if women work from home, and rises again to 2.58 children if both partners do.

Meanwhile, if only men work from home, the increase is smaller, namely about 2.36 children per woman.

The researchers identified several factors that may explain this increase:

- WFH makes it easier for parents to combine work with childcare

- Couples with children tend to choose flexible jobs

- The availability of WFH jobs opens up greater opportunities to choose family-friendly jobs.

All these factors lead to one main conclusion: work flexibility makes the decision to have a child easier.

The effect of WFH on the birth rate turns out to be different in each country. This depends very much on how common the practice of working from home is in that country.

For example, the proportion of workers who do WFH at least one day per week varies quite a bit, ranging from around 21% in Japan to 60% in Vietnam.

In some European countries, WFH is still relatively rare, while the UK is one of the countries with the highest WFH rates.

In the United States, WFH is estimated to account for about 8.1% of total births. This figure is equivalent to hundreds of thousands of births each year.

Although it looks small, the impact is actually bigger than several government policies related to education and early childhood care.

Despite having a positive impact, researchers warn that not all jobs are suitable for working from home. In addition, workers' preferences also vary.

Therefore, policies that impose one work system for everyone have the potential to reduce worker happiness and productivity.