Fact-check: The NBER working paper 'Loneliness, Mental Health and the Work-From-Home Revolution' by Benjamin W. Cowan and Joe M. Spearing (w34914, published March 2026) exists and matches the article's summary, using UKHLS data and differences-in-differences analysis showing small, transitory effects of remote work on loneliness and mental health that disappeared by 2023. NBER is a highly reputable source. No recent X posts discuss it (likely due to very recent publication), but no contradictions found in web search or X results.
Loneliness, Mental Health and the Work-From-Home Revolution -- by Benjamin W. Cowan, Joe M. Spearing
A UK-based academic study using UKHLS data examined the effects of increased remote work since 2020 on loneliness and mental health outcomes. Researchers applied differences-in-differences estimators comparing workers in teleworkable versus non-teleworkable occupations, finding that any adverse effects on self-reported loneliness or mental health symptoms were small and transitory. By 2023, differences between the two groups had largely disappeared, suggesting the work-from-home revolution did n