Remote working putting pressure on around half of personal relationships

The impact of remote working from a home at the same time as a partner is the subject of a new survey from coworking provider HomeWork Workspace. The firm argues that ‘while the initial days of remote work may have felt like a honeymoon phase for many couples, the reality of being together all the time has proven to be a challenge for a significant number’. To back up this claim, the poll suggests that around one in 10 (11 percent) respondents say that their relationship with their partner has improved thanks to homeworking, and 28 percent say that they have always enjoyed  – and still do enjoy – working from home together. But the picture isn’t as rosy for others.

For more than half (54 percent) of those surveyed, working from home has caused their romantic relationship to worsen, the report suggests. Almost a quarter (22 percent) say that being around each other all of the time has led to them having fewer conversations/having less to talk about, around one in seven (13 percent) say that they argue a lot more than they used to when at least one of them left the house to go to work, and 8 percent felt the novelty wear off quickly. For 6 percent of respondents, remote working was seen as playing a significant role behind them breaking up with their partner.

Almost all (95 percent) of those who felt a strain said that they began to notice relationship issues within the first 12 months of working from home. For seven in ten (68 percent) cracks started to show in under six months and a quarter (27 percent) experienced ‘romantic problems’ almost immediately, within the first month of working at home with their partner. Over a third (36 precent) of respondents said that working apart, even for just a day or two a week, has been beneficial for their relationship.