Work from Home and Disability Employment - American Economic Association
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Home<br>Journals<br>American Economic Review: Insights<br>June 2026<br>Work from Home and Disability Employment
American Economic Review: Insights
ISSN 2640-205X (Print)<br>ISSN 2640-2068 (Online)
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About AER: InsightsEditors<br>Editorial Policy<br>Annual Report of the Editor<br>Editorial Process: Discussions with the Editors<br>Research Highlights<br>Contact Information
Articles and IssuesCurrent Issue<br>All Issues<br>Forthcoming Articles
Information for Authors and ReviewersSubmission Guidelines<br>Accepted Article Guidelines<br>Style Guide<br>Reviewer Guidelines
Work from Home and Disability Employment
Nicholas Bloom
Gordon B. Dahl
Dan-Olof Rooth
American Economic Review: Insights
vol. 8,<br>no. 2, June 2026
(pp. 179–95)
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Article Information
Abstract
There has been a dramatic rise in disability employment since the pandemic, while work from home (WFH) has risen fourfold. This paper asks whether the two are causally related. Controlling for compositional changes and labor market tightness, a 1 percentage point increase in WFH increases full-time employment by 1.0 percent for individuals with a physical disability. The postpandemic increase in working from home explains 68-85 percent of the rise in full-time employment. Wage data suggest that WFH increased the supply of workers with a physical disability, likely by reducing commuting costs and enabling better control of working conditions.
Citation
Bloom, Nicholas, Gordon B. Dahl, and Dan-Olof Rooth.<br>2026.
"Work from Home and Disability Employment."
American Economic Review: Insights
8 (2):<br>179–95.
DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20240538
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JEL Classification
I12<br>Health Behavior
J14<br>Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-labor Market Discrimination
J22<br>Time Allocation and Labor Supply
J28<br>Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
J81<br>Labor Standards: Working Conditions
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