During the 1990's the proportion of Canadians doing paid work from a home-base almost tripled, rising from 6% of the Canadian workforce to 17% in 2000 (1).  While many teleworkers and self-employed people choose to work from home because of the flexibility it offers, home-based work can create unique work-family issues, particularly around the boundaries between work and home.

A newly published Canadian study, by University of Guelph Master's graduate, Jennifer Myrie, provides insight into the strategies home-based workers use to create boundaries between their home and work lives.

The study, conducted under the supervision of CFWW's Kerry Daly, is based on in-depth interviews with 30 home-based workers from southern Ontario (2). Participants identified a number of strategies they employed to separate home and work such as having set work times and designated work spaces along with other physical and conceptual barriers that help them to delineate both the visible and invisible boundaries between work and home.

To read the abstract click here

References:

1. Akyeampong, E. B., & Nadwodny, R. (2001). Evolution of the Canadian workplace: Work from home. Perspectives on Labour and Income, 2, 30-36.

2. Myrie, J., & Daly, K. (2009) The Use of Boundaries by Self-employed, Home-Based Workers to Manage Work and Family: A Qualitative Study in Canada. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 30, 4, 386-398