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A three-hour round-trip commute made motherhood and a career seem out of reach for Stefi Markowicz. But when the pandemic hit, she started working from home, and in June of this year, she gave birth to a son.
Markowicz, 27, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, credits the change in her routine to her becoming a mother earlier in life than anticipated. Research suggests other parents can, too.A new study from Stanford University estimates that 80,000 additional births occurred each year in the US between 2021 and 2025 due to a pandemic-fueled rise in remote- and hybrid-work arrangements.It also found that couples who telecommute at least one day a week are more likely to conceive — and more likely to plan to have more children in the future — than those who go into an office five days a week.The findings are based on survey data from 19,000 workers in 38 countries and births reported between 2021 and 2025. They also show that the likelihood of fertility is higher even when only one spouse or domestic partner works from home at least one day a week."If you're at home all day, it's a lot easier to look after kids," said Stanford professor Nicholas Bloom, who co-authored the study with Ph.D. student Katelyn Cranney.Telecommuting also gives couples more time and energy to do what it takes to have children in the first place, added Bloom. "It's hard to conceive by email," he said.Between 2019 and 2021, the number of people primarily working from home tripled to 17.9%, or about 28 million workers, US Census Bureau data show. The Stanford study suggests that sharp rise in remote work, a byproduct of the pandemic, is largely responsible for the uptick.The findings come, however, as a growing number of employers are requiring workers to return full-time to their mother ships, including Amazon, Dell, and JP Morgan Chase. Others are cutting back on the number of days they allow remote work. In the third quarter that ended in September, office vacancy rates declined for the first time since early 2019, according to JLL, a commercial real-estate services company.Meanwhile, the Trump administration and billionaire Elon Musk have expressed interest in finding ways to boost birth rates in the US, which had been declining for years until 2024. Last year, the rate increased slightly, according to the CDC.There are many reasons why some Americans choose not to have children, including high childcare costs and a lack of parental leave. The Stanford study suggests that remote work and hybrid schedules could help drive change, though there are other potential catalysts.Another report, from the Institute for Family Studies, a conservative think tank, suggests U.S. fertility rates could rise if couples had access to larger apartments. Based on a May survey of more than 6,000 US adults, the results show that demand for family-size units far exceeds supply. Further, nearly half of the respondents who said they favor larger floor plans also said that having more bedrooms would make them feel more ready to have a child.Before the pandemic took hold in early 2020, Markowicz was commuting by car at least three hours a day, five days a week, to and from her then-employer's office in Los Angeles. For this reason, she couldn't picture herself becoming a mom without having to quit her job, and her career in public relations was just getting started. She figured motherhood was a long way off.Markowicz's vision of the future, however, would soon undergo a dramatic change. Like many people, she responded to the pandemic by relocating closer to family. She took up residence in her parents' Fort Lauderdale home and continued working for her employer from her childhood bedroom.About a year later, Markowicz fell in love with a man she met on Hinge, and in late 2022, they got married. By then, she'd changed jobs, and her new employer supported remote work, while her husband, a construction-management professional, had a hybrid schedule.Markowicz suddenly realized she could become the kind of working mom she wanted to be — one who's always close to her child and not too tired from commuting to juggle parenthood and a career. She and her husband decided to try to conceive."It's so much easier to think about raising a family without the stresses of leaving your house every single day," said Markowicz. "You also have more energy left for quality time with your partner."In late 2024, she found out she was pregnant. A few months later, she was laid off. Rather than job-hunting and explaining she'd soon need to go on maternity leave, she started her own PR agency from home. Now a first-time mom, she relies on a day-care center and her mother to watch her son while she works, though both babysitters are a short distance away."It just doesn't feel like I would be able to do what I'm doing right now if I had to commute to an office," said Markowicz, adding that she expects to be expecting again in the future, as long as she and her husband can hold onto their flexible work hours."We definitely want to have another kid," she said.
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