Are Those Who Bring Work Home Really Working Longer Hours? Implications for BLS Productivity Measures Lucy P. Eldridge Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies of the BLS

Labor Productivity Growth Output Growth - Hours Worked Growth  Quarterly labor productivity for major sectors (principal federal economic indicator)  Industry labor productivity  International comparisons of labor productivity in manufacturing for 15 countries

Questions  Who is bringing work home from the workplace and why?  Do workers who bring work home work longer hours than those who only work in the workplace?  Does the BLS’ nonfarm business sector labor productivity measure capture work brought home from the workplace?

Sources of Work at Home Data  American Time Use Survey (ATUS)  May CPS Supplement on Work Schedules and Work at Home (CPS Supplement)

American Time Use Survey (ATUS)  time-use daily diaries  Hours worked constructed using minutes for main job, by location  Restrict sample to nonfarm business sector employees who work on their diary day

ATUS: Bring Work Home Variable  Weekday diary day »Report any minutes of work for their main job at the workplace and at home on the same day  Weekend/holiday diary day »Report any minutes of work at home

May CPS Supplement: Work Schedules and Work at Home (CPS Supplement)  1997, 2001 and 2004  All respondents from the May CPS are asked supplement questions  Questions about work schedules and work at home

CPS Supplement: Bring Work Home Variable  “As part of this job do you do any of your work at home?”  “Do you have a formal arrangement with your employer to be paid for the work that you do at home or were you just taking work home from the job?

Percent of Nonfarm Business Employees, by Work Location

Who is bringing work home?  Estimate a multinomial logit model  Compare those who bring work home with » those who work exclusively at the workplace (ATUS) » those who do no work at home (CPS Supplement)

Who is bringing work home? Demographic characteristics  Black employees are less likely than white employees  Hispanic employees are less likely than non-Hispanic employees  Highly-educated employees are more likely than less- educated employees  Female employees are less likely than male employees (except 2001 CPS Supplement)  Older employees are more likely than younger employees (CPS Supplement)

Who is bringing work home? Parental Status  Parents of young children are more likely than those without children  Mothers of infants are less likely than fathers of infants (CPS Supplement)

Reasons for Working at Home Proportion of Nonfarm Business Employees Who Bring Work Home, (CPS Supplement) Finish or catch up on work Nature of the job Business is conducted from home0.04 Coordinate work schedule with personal or family needs 0.05 Reduce commuting time or expense0.01 Some other reason0.06 Number of observations2,8953,143

Do those who bring work home work longer hours? (ATUS diary hours) WeekdayWeekend/holiday Workplace Only Bring Work Home Workplace Only Bring Work Home Daily hours Daily workplace hours Daily hours at home Daily hours Daily workplace hours Daily hours at home Daily hours Daily workplace hours Daily hours at home Daily hours Daily workplace hours Daily hours at home

Do those who bring work home work longer hours? (ATUS diary hours) WeekdayWeekend/holiday Workplace Only Bring Work Home Workplace Only Bring Work Home Daily hours Daily workplace hours Daily hours at home Daily hours Daily workplace hours Daily hours at home Daily hours Daily workplace hours Daily hours at home Daily hours Daily workplace hours Daily hours at home

Do those who bring work home work longer hours? (ATUS diary hours) WeekdayWeekend/holiday Workplace Only Bring Work Home Workplace Only Bring Work Home Daily hours Daily workplace hours Daily hours at home Daily hours Daily workplace hours Daily hours at home Daily hours Daily workplace hours Daily hours at home Daily hours Daily workplace hours Daily hours at home

Do those who bring work home work longer hours? (ATUS diary hours) WeekdayWeekend/holiday Workplace Only Bring Work Home Workplace Only Bring Work Home Daily hours Daily workplace hours Daily hours at home Daily hours Daily workplace hours Daily hours at home Daily hours Daily workplace hours Daily hours at home Daily hours Daily workplace hours Daily hours at home

Do those who bring work home work longer hours? (ATUS) Average weekly hours (AWH) Weekday WeekendAll Workplace Only Bring Work Home Workplace Only Bring Work Home Workplace Only Bring Work Home

Do those who bring work home work longer hours? (CPS Supplement) Average weekly hours (AWH) No Work at Home Bring Work Home Bring Work Home at Least Once a Week

BLS Hours Worked for all Persons in the Nonfarm Business Sector  Primary of source of hours data is the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey  Supplement with other information where CES data are lacking, most importantly »Estimate nonproduction/supervisory worker hours using a ratio from the Current Population Survey (CPS) by major industry groups »Convert CES hours-paid to an hours-at-work basis using National Compensation Survey (NCS) »Add hours for self-employed, government enterprise, and unpaid family workers from CPS

Share of Nonfarm Business Sector Hours and Employment, by Type of Worker: 2004 Hours Worked Employment nProduction/Nonsupervisory Employees nNonproduction/Supervisory Employees nNonemployees

Does the BLS’ nonfarm business labor productivity measure capture work brought home?  Estimate percent of unmeasured hours for production/nonsupervisory employees and nonproduction/supervisory employees separately  Assume that hours worked at workplace are measured  Assume hourly workers are less likely to do unpaid work at home than salaried workers  Assume that CPS respondents include hours worked at home in their reported AWH

Hours worked for Production/ Nonsupervisory Employees nMeasured hours nUnmeasured hours

Percent of Unmeasured Hours Worked for Production/Nonsupervisory Employees

Percent of Unmeasured Hours for Production/Nonsupervisory Employees in Nonfarm Business Sector ATUS Share who bring work home Percent of unmeasured hours %0.84% %0.76% %0.77% %0.58%

Percent of Unmeasured Hours for Production/Nonsupervisory Employees in Nonfarm Business Sector ATUS Share who bring work home Percent of unmeasured hours %0.84% %0.76% %0.77% %0.58% CPS Supplement %1.09% %0.89% %0.91%

Percent of Unmeasured Hours for Production/Nonsupervisory Employees in Nonfarm Business Sector ATUS Share who bring work home Percent of unmeasured hours %0.84% %0.76% %0.77% %0.58% CPS Supplement %1.09% %0.89% %0.91% CPS Supplement (Once a week) %0.75% %0.78%

Hours worked for Nonproduction/ Supervisory Employees nMeasured hours nPercent of unmeasured hours assuming hours at home are reported accurately in CPS AWH

Percent of Unmeasured Hours for Employees in Nonfarm Business Sector ATUS Share who bring work home Percent of unmeasured hours %0.84% %0.76% %0.77% %0.58% CPS Supplement %1.09% %0.89% %0.91% CPS Supplement (Once a week) %0.75% %0.78%

Does the BLS’ nonfarm business labor productivity measure capture work brought home?  What if those who bring work home are not able to accurately recall work at home in average weekly hours reported to the CPS?

Hours worked for Nonproduction/ Supervisory Employees (Reporting bias) nMeasured hours nPercent of unmeasured hours assuming reporting bias

Percent of Unmeasured Employee Hours in the Nonfarm Business Sector (Reporting Bias) (ATUS) Share who bring work home Percent of hours at home AWH of those who bring work home AWH of those who do not bring work home Percent of unmeasured hours Production/nonsupervisory employees %19% % %16% % %15% % %14% % Nonproduction/supervisory employees %14% % %16% % %11% % %15% %

Percent of Unmeasured Employee Hours in the Nonfarm Business Sector (Reporting Bias) (ATUS) All Employees Production/ Nonsupervisory Employees Nonproduction/ Supervisory Employees Percent of total unmeasured hours Share of total hours worked Percent of unmeasured hours Share of total hours worked Percent of unmeasured hours % %1.12% % %1.00% % %0.93% % %1.03%

Does BLS’ nonfarm business productivity capture unpaid work at home?  An adjusted hours series (levels) for all persons that captures work from home, will be approximately 0.6%– 1.1% higher than official series  An adjusted hours series (levels) for all persons that captures work from home, will be approximately 0.8%– 1.1% higher than official series (reporting bias)

Annual Average Growth in Hours of all Persons in the Nonfarm Business Sector OPT series No Reporting Bias Adjusted SeriesDifference ATUS %1.27%-0.07% %1.67%0.01% %2.00%-0.17% %1.65%-0.08%

Annual Average Growth in Hours of all Persons in the Nonfarm Business Sector OPT series No Reporting Bias Hours at home not reported to CPS Adjusted SeriesDifference Adjusted SeriesDifference ATUS %1.27%-0.07%1.24%-0.10% %1.67%0.01%1.60%-0.06% %2.00%-0.17%2.25%0.08% %1.65%-0.08%1.70%-0.03%

Annual Average Growth in Hours of all Persons in the Nonfarm Business Sector OPT Series Adjusted Series Difference CPS SUPPLEMENT %0.76%-0.04% %-0.61%0.01% %0.17%-0.02% CPS Supplement (at least once a week) %-0.61%0.01%

Conclusions  8-9% of nonfarm business employees brought some of their work home ( 1997 – 2006)  Employees tend to bring work home in order to finish or catch up on work not completed in the workplace  Evidence suggest employees bring work home at least in part to better balance work and family  Highly-educated workers are more likely to bring work home than less-educated work

Conclusions  Those who bring work home work longer hours than those who work exclusively in a workplace  There may be a % downward bias in measured hours levels  Unmeasured hours worked at home have little affect on productivity trends

ATUS/CPS Supplement Match 2004  745 nonfarm business employees  93 brought work home (CPS Supplement)  45 brought work home on weekday(ATUS) »Only 21 ever work at home in CPS Supplement  45 brought work home on weekend(ATUS) »69% did not have a formal arrangement to be paid for work at home in the CPS Supplement

Hours worked for Production/ Nonsupervisory Employees (Reporting bias) nMeasured hours nPercent of unmeasured hours