A UK-led study shows that the answer to reversing declining birth rates could be working from home
In an era where countries around the world are wrestling with shrinking populations and ageing workforces, a surprising fix might be hiding in plain sight – working from home.
A new study led by researchers at King’s College London, analysing data from nearly 40 countries, finds that couples who both work from home at least one day a week could see their lifetime fertility increase by about 0.32 children per woman compared to those stuck in traditional office setups.
The researchers estimate that in the US alone, current remote work trends accounted for roughly 8.1% of all births in 2024, translating to about 291,000 additional babies. In the UK, the figure is around 6.2% of births, or 35,400 babies, with post-pandemic work-from-home (WFH) habits potentially adding 41,000 more births nationwide last year than in a no-remote-work scenario.
The study, co-authored by Dr. Cevat Giray Aksoy of King’s College London and drawing on surveys like the Global Survey of Working Arrangements (G-SWA) and the US Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes (SWAA), is based on data from over 100,000 respondents aged 20-45 across 38 countries.
Researchers used econometric models, including ordinary least squares regressions, to control for factors like age, education, marital status, and employment, while clustering standard errors at the country or state level for accuracy.
They measured fertility through realised births (from 2023 to early 2025, including pregnancies in progress) and planned future children, combining them into total lifetime estimates.
A complementary analysis of US Current Population Survey (CPS) data further showed that one-year fertility rates rise by about 7% for women and 4% for men per standard deviation increase in their occupation’s WFH opportunities, effects that compound when partners also have flexible jobs.
Added flexibility
At the heart of these findings is the flexibility remote work provides. By slashing commuting time and easing the juggle between paid jobs and child-rearing, WFH reduces the “coordination costs” that often deter couples from expanding their families.
In the UK, where 54% of university-educated adults now work from home at least once a week, this shift is already making a tangible demographic dent.
Interestingly, the boost appears strongest on the “extensive margin”, meaning just having at least one WFH day matters more than piling on extra remote days.
“The ability to work from home is quietly nudging birth rates up,” said co-author of the study Dr Cevat Giray Aksoy.
“Remote work will not reverse decades of demographic decline on its own. But in a world where conventional pro-natalist policies are expensive and often disappoint, flexibility over where we work is emerging as one of the most promising and cheapest ways to help people have the families they say they want.”
He adds that WFH’s fertility contribution in the US outstrips the impact of government spending on early childhood education, which costs billions but yields smaller demographic gains.
