"When technology executive Logan Maley returned to the office after her first child in 2018, she had an ideal setup: She worked four days a week in a private office with a mini fridge and blackout blinds so she could pump milk at her desk, but her heart still broke being away from her infant daughter. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic. She could have breakfast and lunch with her daughter and put her down for naps. She stopped missing so many firsts."
"when the pandemic shut down offices and ushered in a new age of remote and hybrid work schedules, according to a new study from researchers at Stanford University and other institutions, which analyzed data from 19,000 workers in 38 countries. Couples who work from home, even just one day a week, are more likely to conceive and more likely to plan to have children in the future than those who commute to the office five days a week, the study found."
Remote and hybrid work enabled parents to be physically present for daily caregiving, reduce missed milestones, and feel more productive while working from home. Many couples used increased time at home during the pandemic to expand their families. Analysis of data from 19,000 workers across 38 countries links remote and hybrid schedules — even one day working from home — to higher likelihoods of conception and greater intentions to have children. The United States experienced roughly 80,000 additional births between 2021 and 2025 amid this shift, even as the national birth rate reached an all-time low of 1.6 babies per woman in 2024.
Read at USA TODAY
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