Work from home and the racial gap in female wages

This paper studies the racial female wage penalty to remote work in the U.S. Instrumental variable estimates yield wage penalties that reach 66.3 % for black women and 33.9 % for white women when hours worked at home increase to 5 per week. Promotion bias, task reassignment and lack of productive social interaction are the most likely mechanisms for the wage losses. The estimates provide rare evidence on the costs of physical distancing due to work from home, particularly for women of different races managing the needs of their sick children.