Study links full-time remote work to greater isolation, poorer mental health

Workers continue to prize the freedom of remote jobs, with many saying they would even take a pay cut to keep it. But new national research suggests the cost of full-time telework may be real: more isolation, worse mental health and heavier use of psychiatric care.

The study, led by Federal Reserve Bank of New York economist Natalia Emanuel and published in Science, found that remote work increased time spent alone, worsened well-being across multiple measures and was linked to greater use of mental health services and prescriptions. CBS News reported that remote work grew from 7% of U.S. workers in 2019 to 28% in 2023, underscoring how quickly the workplace shifted away from the office.

The analysis drew on five nationally representative surveys of employees in a range of jobs, covering more than 500,000 Americans. It compared pre-pandemic years from 2011 to 2019 with 2022 to 2024, leaving out 2020 and 2021, when work and social patterns were still in flux. Across that span, remote workers saw a 58% rise in hours spent alone over roughly the decade before and after the pandemic, and the increase was even sharper for people living alone.

That pattern matters because the study did not just capture a feeling of disconnection. It found that the shift in work location translated into large increases in overall time spent alone, a change that appears to track with measurable mental health decline. The authors said data ending in 2024 limited how much they could see long-term adaptation among workers whose jobs can be done remotely.

The findings land in a workplace debate that has never settled. A 2025 FlexJobs report said 69% of workers would accept a pay cut for remote work, up from 58% in 2024. Yet other research points to a more complicated picture than an all-or-nothing choice between home and office.

A 2025 Occupational Medicine study using the U.S. Household Pulse Survey found that people who worked remotely one to four days a week had slightly lower odds of depression risk, while those who worked remotely five or more days a week had slightly higher odds of anxiety risk. A 2024 European Journal of Public Health analysis of Belgium’s BELHEALTH cohort found a similar split, with daily telework associated with much higher odds of anxiety and depression than not teleworking, while monthly telework was not tied to the same pattern.

For employers, the research points to a middle path: coordinate in-office days for hybrid workers and build more informal interaction into remote schedules, even online. The evidence suggests flexibility can still be valuable, but full-time isolation carries a measurable human cost.