Working from home and mental health

A new study of 16,000 people has focused on how working from home, whether in a garden office or otherwise, affects people's mental health.

The study by Jan Kabetak, Ferdi Botha, Jordy Meekes and Roger Wilkins from the University of Melbourne relied on information from thousands of Australians and indicates that: 

• commuting time had no detectable effect on women's mental health while for men longer commutes were linked to poorer mental health for those people who already had mental health issues
• working from home had a strong positive effect on women’s mental health when women worked in a hybrid situation, mostly from home but with one to two days in the office/on-site per week
• people with poorer mental health are the most sensitive to long commutes and the most likely to benefit from substantial working from home arrangements. 
•  employers should avoid one-size-fits-all return-to-office policies

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