People age 25-54 who worked from home spent more time in food preparation activities and eating at home than those who worked away from home

Bar charts showing the percent of people age 25-54 that worked from home and worked away from home that engaged in food preparation and eating at home, and the minutes per day spent in each activity from 2017-18.

With social distancing restrictions placed on workplaces because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans worked from home for most of 2020. Using data from 2017-18, USDA, Economic Research Service researchers studied the amount of time people spend preparing food and eating at home relative to whether they worked from home or away from home. When researchers broke down an overall sample by the worker’s worksite, they found that prime working-age adults who worked from home were more likely to engage in food preparation activities and eat at home and to spend more time on these activities than individuals who worked away from home.

Embed this chart

Download higher resolution chart (2539 pixels by 1800, 300 dpi)