Work from Home and Disability Employment

Author: Nicholas Bloom (Stanford University)Gordon B. Dahl (UC San Diego)Dan-Olof Rooth (Stockholm University)
Posted: 16 April 2026

Abstract

There has been a dramatic rise in disability employment since the pandemic. At the same time, work from home (WFH) has risen four-fold. This paper asks whether the two are causally related. Controlling for compositional changes and labor market tightness, a 1 percentage point increase in WFH increases full-time employment by 1.0% for individuals with a physical disability. The postpandemic increase in working from home explains 68%-85% of the rise in full-time employment. Wage data suggests that WFH increased the supply of workers with a physical disability, likely by reducing commuting costs and enabling better control of working conditions.
JEL codes: J14, J42
Keywords: Disability Employment, Work from Home