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Remote work is associated with more loneliness and worse mental health, specifically for people living alone.

Different populations and cultures may react differently to remote working.

While remote work improves job satisfaction, living situations may impact how it affects long-term health.

Remote work has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, and many individuals seem to prefer this modality over commuting to the office. Many studies show that remote working improves job satisfaction and possibly performance—at least in the short term—but a new study published in Science shows that long-term effects on mental health may instead be negative.

The study compared people who were in "remotable" jobs (such as the ones doable via computer) and "non-remotable" ones, such as a waiter or jobs that require in-person presence. The study analysed more than 500,000 Americans and showed that the metric most impacted by remote working was socialization.

Humans are social animals by nature, and while going out to speak to people felt normal and habitual in the pre-pandemic years, there was a post-pandemic shift where people who work remotely spend, on average, one more hour alone compared to people with non-remote jobs.

Mental health also worsened over time. Scores of psychological........

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