Work At Home
Work At Home
By Hans Glint - September 2006
About 20.7 million persons usually do some work at home as part of their
primary job, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department
of Labor reported in a study based on 2004 numbers.
These workers, who reported working at home at
least once per week, account for about 15 percent of total nonagricultural
employment.
Occupation and Industry
The likelihood of working at home varies greatly by occupation. This is
not surprising, since some jobs are more readily done away from the workplace
than others. Almost 30 percent of workers in management, professional, and
related occupations reporte working at home. Nearly two-thirds
of persons who usually worke at home are employed in these occupations.
About 1 in 5 sales workers usually worke at home. In contrast, only 3 per-
cent of workers in production, transportation, and material moving occupations
performe job-related work at home. From an industry perspective, workers
employed in professional and business services, in financial activities, and
in education and health services are among the most likely to work at home.
Pay Status
Of the 13.7 million wage and salary workers who usually do some work at
home in 2004, about 3.3 million, or 1 in 4, has a formal arrangement with
their employer to be paid for the time they put in at home. About half of
these paid home workers spend 8 hours or more per week working at home, and
about 1 in 7 put in 35 hours or more per week at home. On average, those
with a formal arrangement to be paid for their work time at home logg
about 19 hours per week at home.
About three-fourths of wage and salary workers who do job-related work
at home on a regular basis do so without a formal arrangement to be paid
for this work. Of these 10.2 million workers are just taking work home from
the job, about 22 percent regularly work 8 hours or more per week at
home. Workers doing unpaid job-related activity at home average about
7 hours per week at home.
Among those with a formal arrangement to be paid for work at home, more
than half work in management and professional jobs, and another 1 in 5
work in sales occupations. Managers and professionals account for
about four-fifths of those just taking work home from the job. School-
teachers and instructors (excluding college) especially are likely
to take work home, with 2.8 million--or about half of all teachers--
reporting such activity. About 1 in 10 persons
who put in time at home without a formal arrangement worke in sales jobs.
Self-Employed Persons and Home-Based Businesses
About one-third of persons who usually worke at home are
self-employed. Of the 7.0 million self-employed persons who worke at
home, two-thirds has a home-based business--that is, a business run from
their home and no other location. Nearly half of self-employed persons
with a home-based business work at least 8 hours per week at home, and
almost 22 percent are putting in 35 hours or more at home. On average, self-
employed persons with a home-based business work 25 hours per week at
home.
About 45 percent of self-employed persons with home-based businesses
are in management, professional, and related occupations.
Sixteen percent are employed in sales and related occupations. On an
industry basis, about 1 in 4 self-employed persons with a home-based
business work in professional and business services. Some 18 percent
of persons with a home-based business are employed in the construction
industry.
Demographics
Women and men are about equally likely to work at home, at
about 15 percent each. Whites (16 percent) were twice as likely as blacks
(8 percent) and Hispanics or Latinos (7 percent) to work at home, reflect-
ing, at least in part, the relatively higher concentration of whites in
occupations that are associated with work at home. Nearly 13 percent of
Asians work at home. The work-at-home rate for parents was
slightly higher than for persons without children. Married persons are
more likely to work at home than their non-married counterparts.
The likelihood of working at home increase with educational attainment.
Employed persons 25 years and over with a bachelor's degree or higher were
more than 6 times more likely to work at home as those without a high
school diploma (32 and 5 percent, respectively). Much of this disparity
is due to the varying occupational patterns of workers with different
levels of education. For example, college graduates are much more likely
to be employed in managerial and professional occupations--which have a
greater work-at-home rate--than are high school dropouts.
Reason for Job-Related Work at Home
Among wage and salary workers who are taking work home without a formal
arrangement to be paid for that work, the most common reason for working at
home is to "finish or catch up on work" (56 percent). An additional 32 per-
cent report that they work at home at least once per week because it
is the "nature of the job." For those paid to work at home as part of a
formal arrangement with their employer, the reasons are more varied. For
example, 40 percent report it is the "nature of the job," 24 percent
indicate that "business is conducted from home," 13 percent work at home
to "finish or catch up on work," and 9 percent arrange to work at home to
"coordinate work schedule with personal or family needs." Almost half of
all self-employed workers--and more than 60 percent of those with home-
based businesses--indicate the main reason for working at home is because
their "business is conducted from home." An additional 24 percent of self-
employed persons respond that it is the "nature of the job" to work at
home.
Use of Electronic Equipment
About 8 in 10 of those engaged in job-related work at home
use a computer as part of their work at home, and just slightly fewer use
a telephone. About 70 percent of all persons who usually worke at home
make use of the Internet or e-mail to work at home. In general, wage and
salary workers who are paid to work at home as part of a formal arrange-
ment were are likely to use electronic equipment at home than those who
were just taking work home from the job.
Frequency of Work at Home
The total number of persons who reporte that they worke at home --
regardless of how often they engage in home-based work activity--was 25.4
million (18.6 percent of total nonagricultural employment). This includes,
in addition to those who usually worke at home, 1.9 million persons who
worke at home at least once every 2 weeks, 1.6 million who worked at home
at least once per month, and about 880,000 who worke at home less than
once per month. While the total number of persons who reported some work
at home is about the same as previous studies, the share
working at home at least once per week.