We often talk about working from home as a question of productivity.
Are employees as effective outside the office?
What happens to collaboration?
Does remote working affect company culture?
And how much time should people spend together in person?
These are reasonable questions for employers to ask.
But there's another aspect of the flexible working conversation that receives less attention.
Could the way we design work influence whether people feel able to start or grow their families?
New research suggests there may be a connection.
And it raises some interesting questions about how work fits into the reality of family life.
What does the research say about working from home and having children?
In March 2026, researchers published a study titled Work from Home and Fertility.
Drawing on survey data from 38 countries, the researchers examined the relationship between working-from-home arrangements and people's experiences and plans around having children.
They found that adults who worked from home at least one day per week reported higher recent birth rates and intentions to have more children than comparable adults who didn't work from home.
Among couples where both partners worked from home at least one day a week, estimated lifetime fertility was 0.32 children per woman higher than among couples where neither partner worked remotely.
That's an interesting finding.
But it's important to understand what it does and doesn't tell us.
The research identifies a relationship between remote working and fertility. It doesn't establish that giving someone a working-from-home day will necessarily lead them to have more children.
People with children may actively seek flexible jobs, and people already planning families may choose employers that offer remote working.
Other research has also produced differing results.
So the relationship is more complicated than simply saying that remote working increases birth rates.
But the findings raise a question worth exploring.
How much do the practical conditions of working life influence people's decisions about having children?
Family decisions aren't just about wanting children
When people think about starting or growing a family, there are often emotional considerations.
Do we want another child?
Does this feel like the right time?
What do we imagine family life looking like?
But alongside those questions are some very practical ones.
Can we afford childcare?
How will we manage drop-offs and pickups?
Who will take time off when a child is ill?
How will maternity or parental leave affect our finances?
What happens to our careers?
And how will we manage everything when both parents are working?
These questions can have a significant influence on what feels possible.
It's not necessarily that people don't want children.
For some, it's that they struggle to see how another child would fit into the practical and financial realities of their lives.
Why flexibility can make family life more manageable
Think about an ordinary working day.
If you have a lengthy commute, you may need to leave home early and return just in time for childcare pickup.
That can leave very little room for anything unexpected.
A delayed train.
A nursery closure.
A child who needs collecting early.
Or a meeting that runs over.
Now imagine that you work from home a couple of days each week.
You may still have the same responsibilities and workload.
But removing the commute could give you more time in the morning or evening.
It might make childcare arrangements easier to coordinate with a partner.
And it could provide more flexibility around the practical demands of family life.
Working from home doesn't remove those demands.
And it certainly isn't a substitute for childcare.
But it can change how manageable the logistics feel.
Sometimes flexibility doesn't change the work itself. It changes how possible it feels to fit work into the rest of your life.
Why this matters for women returning from maternity leave
This is particularly relevant to the work I do at The Parent Shift.
When women return from maternity leave, the conversation often focuses on confidence, identity and adjusting to work again.
Those are important parts of the transition for some women.
But practical arrangements matter just as much.
A woman may feel confident in her ability to do her job.
She may want to continue progressing.
She may enjoy her work and value her career.
But if the working arrangements make family life difficult to sustain, she may begin questioning whether she can continue in the same role.
That's not necessarily a question of ambition.
Or capability.
It may be a question of whether the job can realistically fit alongside her responsibilities outside work.
And while coaching can help someone explore their options, the organisation also has a role in creating workable conditions.
What happens when organisations reduce flexible working?
As employers review their working-from-home arrangements, discussions often centre on productivity, collaboration and organisational culture.
Those are legitimate considerations.
Some roles genuinely require people to be physically present.
And there can be benefits to working together in person.
But when organisations change their flexible working policies, it's worth considering the impact beyond the immediate operational decision.
How will employees manage childcare?
Will commuting time create new difficulties?
Will some employees need to reduce their hours?
Could the change affect whether experienced parents see a long-term future with the organisation?
And could it influence how prospective employees think about combining a career with starting a family?
These aren't reasons to assume that every organisation should operate remotely.
But they are reasons to include employees' lives outside work in the discussion.
Because a decision about where people work can also affect how they organise the rest of their lives.
Flexibility isn't only about working from home
Of course, remote working isn't possible in every profession.
Healthcare workers, teachers, manufacturing employees and many others need to be physically present to do their jobs.
And even in office-based roles, working from home may not be the right arrangement for everyone.
But flexibility is broader than location.
It can include:
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Predictable working hours
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Flexibility around start and finish times
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Part-time or job-share arrangements
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Advance notice of changes to shifts
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Clear expectations about availability
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Supportive approaches to caring responsibilities
The important question isn't simply whether someone can work from home.
It's whether the organisation has considered how employees can do their jobs effectively alongside the responsibilities they have outside work.
What employers should take from the research
I don't think the lesson from this research is that organisations should introduce remote working to increase birth rates.
Decisions about having children are deeply personal, and nobody should feel that employers have a role in directing them.
But the research does encourage us to think differently about flexible working.
Rather than treating flexibility only as a benefit or a productivity question, we can also consider it part of how organisations support sustainable working lives.
For employers, that might mean asking:
Are our working arrangements helping experienced employees stay?
Are we making assumptions about what parents need, or actually asking them?
Can people continue progressing in their careers while working flexibly?
Do managers know how to support employees whose family circumstances change?
These are questions about employee experience, retention and career development.
And they matter whether someone is already a parent, considering having children or navigating another caring responsibility.
Work design affects family life
There isn't one policy that will solve the challenges of combining work and family.
Remote working isn't suitable for every role.
Flexibility alone won't resolve the cost of childcare, unequal caring responsibilities or the wider pressures facing families.
And the research on working from home and fertility is still developing.
But there's something important in the wider conversation.
When we design jobs, we're not making decisions that affect only what happens between nine and five.
We're also influencing the practical choices available to people outside work.
How they manage their time.
How they share caring responsibilities.
Whether they can sustain their careers.
And, potentially, how they think about starting or growing their families.
Work design is family design, whether we acknowledge it or not.
And if organisations want to retain experienced parents and support people through different stages of their lives, that deserves a place in the conversation.
Supporting working parents through change
At The Parent Shift, I work with women navigating the relationship between motherhood, identity and their careers.
I also support organisations to improve how managers approach maternity leave, returning to work and the changing needs of working parents.
Because good support isn't only about helping someone return to work.
It's also about helping create the conditions in which they can continue building a career.
Explore support for organisations or find out about individual coaching.