How Your Company Can Reduce the Unequal Strains on Women Working From Home
Remote work is entrenched in our culture, and it’s time to address some of the downsides for family life.
Psychology researchers surveyed more than 100 cohabiting couples who both work from home, reflecting the sustained shift toward remote work since the pandemic. Their central finding was that digital work tools, while boosting productivity during office hours, often intrude on personal and family time. Emails, messages, and notifications blur the boundary between work and home in ways that are difficult to ignore.
The scenario is familiar to many remote workers: you’re relaxing with family when your phone buzzes with a message from your manager. A quick glance turns into a response, and before long, work has crept into what was meant to be downtime. Occasional interruptions may be harmless, but repeated disruptions can accumulate, increasing stress and tension at home.
According to the research, women are disproportionately affected by these digital intrusions. The negative impact is even stronger in households where both partners work remotely, compared with those where only one partner does so. Researchers point to persistent gender imbalances as a key reason: women still take on a larger share of domestic responsibilities, while men often feel greater pressure to overperform professionally. For women, this “invisible labor” continues alongside paid work, compounding the stress caused by constant work-related interruptions.
The study found that digital disruptions during personal time can drain cognitive and emotional resources, leading to frustration and reduced capacity to engage in family responsibilities. Interestingly, that frustration was also linked to short-term spikes in work productivity—suggesting that while constant connectivity may deliver brief gains, it comes at a longer-term personal and relational cost.
How employers can support remote workers
Given the strong link between employee well-being and sustained productivity, employers have a clear incentive to help remote workers manage these pressures.
Simple steps can make a difference. Organizations can encourage employees to establish tech-free periods, set clear communication boundaries, and use shared calendars to signal when they are unavailable. Training managers to communicate only when necessary—and at appropriate times—can also help reinforce healthier norms.
Another critical step is addressing the “infinite workday”: the expectation that workers are always reachable, even late in the evening. Video meetings, messaging apps, and smartphones have made this expectation easy to sustain, but no less damaging.
Experts consistently emphasize the value of clearly separating work and personal life when working remotely. Physically dividing workspaces at home can help create psychological boundaries—signaling when the workday is over and protecting both focused work time and meaningful family time.