Home-based workers in US become younger

NEW YORK

People working from home became younger, more diverse, better educated and more likely to move during the worst part of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

In many respects, the demographic makeup of people working from home from 2019 to 2021 became more like workers who were commuting, while the share of the U.S. labor force working from home went from 5.7 percent in 2019 to 17.9 percent in 2021, as restrictions were implemented to help slow the spread of the virus, according to a report released last week based on American Community Survey data.

“The increase in homebased workers corresponded with a decline in drivers, carpoolers, transit riders, and most other types of commuters,” the report said.

The share of people working from home between ages 25 and 34 jumped from 16 percent to 23 percent from 2019 to 2021. The share of home-based workers who are Black went from 7.8 percent to 9.5 percent, and it went from 5.7 percent to 9.6 percent for Asian workers. It remained flat for Hispanic workers, the report said.

The share of home-based workers with a college degree also jumped from just over half to more than two-thirds, and people working from home were more likely to have moved in the past year than commuters.

The two industry groups that saw the greatest jumps in people working from home were in information, where it went from 10.4 percent to 42 percent, and finance, insurance and real estate, going from 10.8 percent to 38.4 percent. Professional and administrative services, also went from 12.6 percent to 36.5 percent.

The smallest gains were in agriculture and mining; entertainment and food services; and armed forces.

While every income level saw jumps in people working from home, those in the highest income bracket were most likely to work from home.

While it doubled from 2019 to 2021 for workers in the lowest income bracket, it tripled for those in the highest, the report said.

“If only temporarily, the COVID-19 pandemic generated a massive shift in the way people in the United States related to their workplace location,” the report said. “With the centrality of work and commuting in American life, the widespread adoption of home-based work was a defining feature of the pandemic era.”