WRITTEN EVIDENCE SUBMITTED IN COLLABORATION WITH THE EWORKLIFE TEAM, TO THE UK PARLIAMENT LORDS’ SELECT COMMITTEE COVID-19 COMMITTEE INQUIRY, “LIVING ONLINE: THE LONG-TERM IMPACT ON WELLBEING”.
Submitted by the eWorklife research group: Professor Anna L Cox a, Dr Sandy JJ Gould b, Dr Marta Cecchinato c, Dr Joseph Newbold c, Dr Anna Rudnicka a, and David Cook a to the House of Lords COVID-19 Committee Inquiry: Living online: The long-term impact on wellbeing
a University College London
b University of Birmingham
c Northumbria University
Between 20th April 2020 and 24th September 2020, we surveyed 426 individuals who started working from home as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. We also conducted 25 follow-up interviews. This helped us achieve an in-depth understanding of the challenges that new home workers are experiencing, and the impact that this has on workers’ wellbeing.
We found that working from home differs from working in the office in many respects that have the potential to affect workers’ physical and mental health. The issues arising are unlikely to be solved solely on the part of the workers and require urgent attention and support from employers and policymakers. Therefore, we are responding to the Committee’s call for evidence and responding to questions outlined in the ‘Work’ section in the Terms of Reference.
