The causal effect of working from home on mental health of 50+ Europeans

Abstract

We develop an identification strategy for the causal effect of working from home on mental health leveraging policy-induced variation during the Covid-19 pandemic. We overcome endogeneity by combining longitudinal microdata with the cross-sectional variation in the feasibility of remote working across occupations and in the legal restrictions to in-presence work across sectors. In our sample of 50+ Europeans, remote working increases feelings of sadness and depression, especially for women, parents with adult children at home, and in regions with strict containment measures and low excess mortality.