* New report shows we haven’t come all that far
Every decade the U.S. Census Bureau counts home-based workers. Sure, we had to wait nearly five years to get the now considerably outdated results. But given the data is based on responses to a questionnaire completed by 1 in 6 U.S. households – not just some sampling of broadband households or AOL subscribers – it’s still a good mirror.
Aside from the obvious fact that the number of home workers has climbed these 10 (I mean 15) years, not much else has changed. We talk a lot about broadening employment opportunities for disabled, retired workers, and rural workers, of giving work/life balance benefits to wage earners and union workers. But the number of these folks who get to skip the commute are still piddling. Teleworkers are still 44-year-old white business managers in private firms.
The Working at Home: 2000 report puts the number of people over 16 years old “who worked most days of the week from home” (a.k.a., full time) at 4.2 million – a 23% increase since 1990. The report slices home workers by age, sex, education, race, Hispanic origin, industry, occupation, disability status and earnings.
Of these home workers, 52.9% were women; 47.1% were men; still fairly balanced. The highest percentage (13.7%) are between ages 40 to 44; 12.9% are 44 to 49. As you’d expect, 22.4% have some college education, another 22.4% have a bachelor’s degree. Ninety-eight percent are “one race,” and 88.3% are white; only 5.6% are Hispanic; 4.5% black or African American.
The percentage of those who work for private companies (whether salaried or wage earners) is 74.6%; only 12.2% are self-employed, a number I expected would be higher. Four percent work for non-profits, which didn’t surprise me as everybody knows non-profits hate telework. (That’s a joke. In fact does anyone out there know why non-profits don’t telework?) Anyway – get this: Only 4.2% of home workers are employed by the local, state or the federal government. That’s shamefully low given how much “ink” we give pubic sector telework.
What about specific occupations? Same old, same old: 44% of home workers are managers and professionals; 25% are in sales or “sales and office occupations.” Of the latter, 10% represents administrative support jobs, which isn’t bad, but could be much better given all you need to do them is a computer and a phone. Even with all the buzz about telemedicine, “healthcare support” makes up only 1.9% of home workers. It’s safe to predict in 10 years this number will be bit higher.
The Census Bureau is also publicizing the more recent (2003) American Community Survey (ACS), which puts the number of home workers at 4.5 million. This survey lets you search on your community to see how your neighbors break out. To avoid confusion, the Census Bureau states: “The ACS will replace the long form in the future censuses and is a critical element in the Bureau’s reengineered 2010 census plan.”
I can’t wait.
