Is WFH Bad for Your Health?

This article is published in collaboration with Statista

by Anna Fleck

All jobs have risk built into them to some extent. While some are more obvious than others, for example moving heavy machinery, even sitting at a desk for long periods of time can lead to back pain, and in the longer term, appears to increase risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

The following chart uses data from a Statista Consumer Insights survey to see how reported health differs among people who mostly work from home versus from an office or factory. It found that six in ten U.S. adults who primarily work from home had experienced some kind of pain - be it back pain, joint pain or a headache - in the 12 months prior to participating in the survey. These symptoms occurred marginally more frequently for those working from home than those working from an office environment (59 percent versus 54 percent). A slightly higher share of people in the WFH group also reported having experienced digestive issues, albeit by a small difference (37 percent versus 34 percent). The three groups were fairly evenly split in terms of reported cold symptoms.

The survey also asked about workers’ mental health in the past year, finding that those who worked from home were slightly more likely to report health problems than both the other groups. With this data alone, it is not possible to say, however, whether that is a result of factors such as increased strain from longer working hours, family stress and social isolation, or whether someone experiencing mental health problems may be less likely to choose to go into an office, for example. This data reflects only whether these respondents have experienced the following issues and does not provide insight on why that is.

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