As expected, the most recent annual American Time Use Survey (ATUS) – conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and covering a portion of calendar year 2020 – graphically illustrates the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the switch to working at home. The ATUS is an annual government report tabulating the various activities U.S. workers engage in during any given day.
The biggest changes from 2019 to 2020 involved significant increases in the percentage of survey respondents who reported working at home, as well as the average number of hours spent working at home. Interestingly, however, the ATUS does not show a notable change in most other comparative categories, including the average number of hours worked and average weekly pay.
As noted above, the COVID-19 pandemic limited the reporting period for the 2020 survey to the interval of May 10 through December 31, 2020, making it comparable to 2019 only for the same period. The Census Bureau has taken this into account for purposes of comparisons.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.