Mothers of Invention: How the Experiences of Women Working From Home During COVID-19 Could Reshape the Domestic Environment

Abstract

Despite the desire of the postindustrial workforce, particularly women, for flexible work arrangements, only 4% of Canadian employees performed their job duties remotely before the pandemic. However, this segment grew dramatically in March 2020 when the COVID-19 lockdowns forced office employees to work from home (WFH). Because the merging of employment with the dwelling has affected the genders unevenly, we focused on the WFH experiences of women, living in the metropolitan area of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with occupations that could be performed remotely during the pandemic. We further explored how women used their agency to overcome material and behavioral challenges encountered in the home workspace by implementing innovative modifications. Using a mixed-methods approach, data were collected from 96 women with an online questionnaire, followed by 15 semi-structured interviews. The results showed that each participant created a functional workspace (if one did not already exist), and successfully performed their paid employment at home. Despite the difficulties—some resulting from the pandemic—that complicated WFH, almost every woman wanted to continue working remotely in some capacity. The findings suggest that remote work is a viable labor model for women who want to combine paid and unpaid labor in a WFH nexus within the dwelling. Examples of home-workspace innovations are provided, revealing new design considerations that could influence residential design—especially in smaller homes—as the post-pandemic labor force evolves to include a larger segment of remote employees.