‘Work from home’ as an alternative to daily commuting for working women

Author:
Key words: , , , ,
Issue: Volume 14, Issue 2, 2020

Abstract


This study examines the viability of working from home as an alternative to daily commuting for the working women of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region in India. Work from home has become a common practice in India following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the mentioned area of India people are known to commute for long distances daily to reach their workplaces, and the ability to work from home has led to saving a lot of time that otherwise used to be lost in commuting. Despite this, the present study argues that working from home is not free from drawbacks and the time spent commuting is not necessarily equivalent to time wasted, especially for working women. The study uses a mixed methodology involving primary and secondary data that are analysed qualitatively and quantitatively to derive the findings. The results derived reveals the disadvantages experienced by the working women of the study area as a result of working from their homes, as well as, brings out the importance and need for commuting in the daily lives of these working women.

Full text


Permalink (doi)



Authors Affiliations


Sujayita Bhattacharjee
University of Mumbai, India
* Correspondence address:
Email: sujayita100@gmail.com

References


Acharya, A. and Nangia, P. (2004), “Population growth and changing land-use pattern in Mumbai Metropolitan Region of India”, Caminhos de Geografia, vol. 11, no. 11, p.168-185, 6 October 2020, shorturl.at/lrOQ8.
Association for Psychological Science – APS (2016), The Upside of a Long Commute? Time to Think, 6 October 2020, shorturl.at/fgxI0.
Banerjea, A. (2020), “Lockdown Extended in Covid-19 Containment Zones Till the 31st of July”, Livemint, 6 October 2020, shorturl.at/jlxB7.
Batista-Ferrer, H., Cooper, A. and Audrey, S. (2018), “Associations of mode of travel to work with physical activity, and individual, interpersonal, organisational, and environmental characteristics”, Journal of Transport & Health, vol. 9, p.45-55.
Bhattacharyya, R. (2020), “Work-from-home may help female professionals make a comeback”, Economic Times, 6 October 2020, shorturl.at/aANSZ.
Bissel, D.(2015), “Understanding The Impacts of Commuting: Research Report for Stakeholders”, Australian National University, p. 5, 6 October 2020, shorturl.at/inFO1.
BLAH-BLAH (2017), Shopping inside a train in Mumbai city, 6 October 2020, shorturl.at/cfEO9.
Chaudhary, S. (2016), “Women in The Mumbai Locals Through the Eyes of Instagram”, Culture Trip, 6 October 2020, shorturl.at/akmxE.
Choudhary, P. (2010), “Local Train Vendors”, MUMBAI ICONS, 8 October 2020, shorturl.at/dHNR9.
Clark, S.C. (2000), “Work/Family Border Theory: A New Theory of Work/Family Balance”, Human Relations, vol. 53, no. 6, p. 747–770.
Courtney, E. (2020), “The Benefits of Working from Home: Why The Pandemic Isn’t the Only Reason to Work Remotely”, Flexible Jobs – FIND A BETTER WAY TO WORK, 6 October 2020, shorturl.at/kpQSV.
Deorah, S. (2020), “COVID-19 impact: Is work from home the new normal?”, Financial Express, 8 October 2020, shorturl.at/dyDR4.
Deshpande, A. and Kabeer, N. (2019), “(In)Visibility, Care and Cultural Barriers: The Size and Shape of Women’s Work in India”, Discussion Paper Series in Economics, no. 10, Department of Economics, Ashoka University.
Deshpande, A. (2020a), “What Does Work-From-Home Mean for Women?”, Economic and Political Weekly, 5 October 2020, shorturl.at/prLY2.
Deshpande, A. (2020b), “Travel lockdown within Mumbai Metropolitan Region lifted”, The Hindu, 8 October 2020, shorturl.at/esKSU.
Flint, E., Webb, E. and Cummins, S. (2016), “Change in commute mode and body-mass index: prospective, longitudinal evidence from UK Biobank”, Lancet Public Health, vol. 1, no. 2, p.e46-e55.
Gambhir, M. (2020), “Lockdown: Is Work-Life Balance Impossible While Working from Home?”, The Quint, 4 September 2020, shorturl.at/aipN4.
Gino, F., Staats, B., Jachimowicz, J., Lee, J. and Menges, J. (2017), “Reclaim Your Commute”, Harvard Business Review, 6 October 2020, shorturl.at/elqAR.
Google LLC (2020), Google COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports, 22 August 2020, https://www.google.com/covid19/mobility/.
Goyat, R. (N.D.), “Dimensions of Gender Inequality in India”, O.P. Jindal Global, 6 October 2020, shorturl.at/fC034.
Hebbar, N. (2020), “PM Modi announces 21-day lockdown as COVID-19 toll touches 12”, The Hindu, 6 October 2020, shorturl.at/fGLY4.
Hilbrecht, M., Shaw, S.M., Johnson, L.C. and Andrey, J. (2008). “‘I’m home for the kids’: contradictory implications for work–life balance of teleworking mothers”, Gender, Work & Organisation, vol. 15, no. 5, p. 454–476.
Hindustan Times (2020), Covid-19 lockdown, extended till the 3rd of May, will become more strict for next one week, 6 October 2020, shorturl.at/bBQY7.
Ibarra, H., Gillard, J. and Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2020), “Why WFH Isn’t Necessarily Good for Women”, Harvard Business Review, 7 October 2020, shorturl.at/mnvT7.
Kakodkar, P. and Sen, S. (2019), “To boost infrastructure and growth, Maharashtra expands MMR”, Times of India, 7 October 2020, shorturl.at/noIKY.
Khairnar, A. (2020), “Second phase of lockdown begins with more relaxations”, Hindustan Times, 8 October 2020, shorturl.at/mtxFO.
Kim, J. (2018), “Workplace flexibility and parent-child interactions among working parents in the U.S”, Social Indicators Research.
Kulkarni, N. (2018), “Life on the Local: Birthday parties, festivities and celebration of friendship on tracks”, The Indian Express, 8 October 2020, shorturl.at/kEOR8.
Lapierre, L.M., Van Steenbergen, E.F., Peeters, M. C. and Kluwer, E.S. (2016), “Juggling work and family responsibilities when involuntarily working more from home: A multiwave study of financial sales professionals”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, vol. 37, no. 6, p. 804-822.
Misra, U. (2020), “Explained: How India is responding to lockdown relaxations”, The Indian Express, 28 September 2020, shorturl.at/xzP13.
Patton, E. (2020), “In The Work-From-Home Battle for Space, Women Are the Reluctant Nomads”, The Conversation, 8 October 2020, shorturl.at/hoCG9.
Powell, A. and Craig, L. (2015), “Gender differences in working at home and time use patterns: evidence from Australia”, Work, Employment and Society, vol. 29, no. 4, p.571-589.
Rode, S. (2020), “Employment Pattern, Skills and Training Issues among Informal Sector Workers in Mumbai Metropolitan Region”, Economia, Seria Management, vol. 18, no. 1, p. 125-138.
Rothbard, N.P. and Ramarajan, L. (2009), “Checking Your Identities at the Door? Positive Relationships Between Nonwork and Work Identities” in L.M. Roberts and J.E. Dutton (eds.), Exploring Positive Identities and Organisations: Building a Theoretical and Research Foundation, Routledge, New York.
Scroll.in (2020), Covid-19: Lockdown extended till May 17, no movement allowed from 7 pm to 7 am, 6 October 2020, shorturl.at/iFGS1.
Sullivan, C. and Lewis, S. (2001), “Home-based telework, gender and the synchronisation of work and family: Perspectives of teleworkers and their co-residents”, Gender, Work and Organization, vol. 8, no. 2, p. 123–145.
Timesnownews.com. (2020), India Relaxes Lockdown Restrictions with Unlock 1.0 – Here’s A List of Places Opening in Different States, 5 October 2020, shorturl.at/dgh03.
Thakkar, M. (2019), “MMRDA: You spend 8.4% of your income on commute”, DNA, 5 October 2020, shorturl.at/bkxyB.
The Art Blog (2013). The Ladies Compartment in Mumbai Local Trains, 7 October 2020, shorturl.at/xSUZ6.
Varshney, M. (2018), “Mumbai Transportation System Transformation”, IGLUS, 7 October 2020, shorturl.at/dnqHU.

This post has already been read 23673 times!

About journal

Title: Human Geographies - Journal of Studies and Research in Human Geography
ISSN online: 2067-2284
ISSN print: 1843-6587
Imprint: University of Bucharest
Frequency: Biannual (May&November)
First volume: 1/2007
Current volume: 17/2023
Language: English
Indexed in: SCOPUS, ERIH PLUS, EBSCO (SocINDEX), ProQuest (Social Science Journals, SciTech Journals, Natural Science Journals), Index Copernicus, National Technical Information Service (NTiS), Bodleian Libraries, ExLibris SFX, DOAJ, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library, Google Scholar, Ulrich
Creative Commons License


EDITORS


Prof. dr. Liliana Dumitrache
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

Dr. Daniela Dumbrăveanu
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

Dr. Mariana Nae
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

Dr. Gabriel Simion
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

SCImago Journal & Country Rank