Work from home increase fertility rate
A combination of more time spent at home, flexible schedules and reduced commute expenses contributes to more births
A growing body of evidence suggests that working from home may do more than reshape offices and commutes – it could also help reverse declining birth rates. A new study led by economists at Stanford University, including prominent remote-work researcher Nick Bloom, finds a strong link between flexible work arrangements and higher fertility.
Analyzing data from more than 11,000 respondents aged 20 to 45 across 38 countries, the researchers found that from 2023 to early 2025, realized fertility – the number of children people actually had – was 14% higher among couples in which both partners worked from home at least one day a week, compared with couples where neither partner did. The study drew on responses from the Global Survey of Working Arrangements and the US Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes.
“Both datasets reveal clear evidence that realized fertility, plans for future fertility, and total fertility are greater for respondents who work from home at least one day a week,” the researchers wrote.
The findings arrive amid a global fertility slump. In the US, federal data shows birth rates fell to an all-time low in 2024, with fewer than 1.6 children per woman. Similar declines are visible across much of Europe and East Asia, driven by later marriage, economic uncertainty, and the rising cost of raising children. The Congressional Budget Office warned recently that by 2030, deaths in the US will outnumber births for the first time in modern history, leaving immigration as the sole source of population growth – a prospect clouded by political efforts to curb migration.
Researchers argue that remote work could help counter these trends for reasons that extend beyond couples simply spending more time together. “‘You can’t get pregnant by email’ is the classic quote,” Bloom told Fortune, but he emphasized that flexibility also makes childcare planning easier and reduces costs tied to commuting and housing. Parents are no longer forced to live within strict commuting distance of an office, potentially lowering expenses.
Work-from-home arrangements also remain highly popular. A 2026 report from Robert Half found that only 16% of workers ranked a fully in-office role as their top choice, while a quarter said they would even consider a job requiring five days a week on site.
Some governments are already experimenting with flexibility to address demographic decline. In April 2025, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government introduced a four-day workweek and expanded childcare leave options. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said the goal was to ensure women do not have to sacrifice their careers because of childbirth or child-rearing.
Bloom, however, is skeptical of four-day workweeks as a fertility fix, citing early evidence from France suggesting that stagnant wages over time can amount to an effective pay cut. By contrast, expanding remote-work options is relatively inexpensive. Data from LendingTree estimate it costs nearly $300,000 to raise a child to age 18 in the US, while a United Nations report found that one-time cash payments to parents rarely move fertility rates.
“I don’t think it’s realistic,” Karen Benjamin Guzzo of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill told PBS, “to think that any amount of money the government could plausibly give out would be enough to really address the costs of raising a child.”
For Bloom, the appeal of remote work is straightforward. “Employees like it, it increases the birth rate, and it reduces pollution and commuting,” he said. “It’s a rare win-win-win.”