The role of geographical location for work-life balance satisfaction: Insights from Italian coworking spaces

With the rapid advancements in information and communication technologies reshaping ways and places of work, the quest for work-life balance has gained crucial importance. Recent literature has increasingly emphasised coworking spaces as a potential solution to foster work-life balance by alleviating work-life conflicts and offering environments that favour an integration of work and leisure. Despite this growing interest, quantitative studies in this domain are still lacking. This study aims to fill this gap by drawing on data from an online survey addressed to coworking space users in Italy conducted in 2022–2023. By applying an ordered logit model, the paper investigates the factors influencing coworkers’ work-life balance satisfaction and the work-life conflicts they experienced. A specific focus is devoted to the role of the geographical location of coworking spaces, controlling for working conditions and the adoption of multilocal working and living arrangements. The results reveal that coworkers in non-urban areas report higher work-life balance levels and encounter fewer conflicts than their urban counterparts. • The paper investigates the factors contributing to work-life balance satisfaction in coworking spaces in Italy. • Results show that coworkers in non-urban areas report higher levels of work-life balance satisfaction and fewer conflicts. • Worse working conditions also lead to worse work-life balance outcomes in coworking environments. • The research suggests the need to promote a healthy work culture within coworking spaces.