Full Breakdown
Remote Work, Relationship Strain, and Loneliness: Findings from German Dual-Earner Couples
6/29/2026, 11:53:56 PM
Remote Work and Work-to-Home Conflict in German Couples
Two studies surveyed dual-earner couples in Germany: 170 couples in Munich (spring-summer 2020) and 1,561 couples from a national database (2019-2021). Participants reported weekly remote-work hours, personal segmentation preferences (desire to keep work and home separate), work-to-home conflict, loneliness, and whether either partner had seriously considered separation or divorce.
Pandemic Context and German Norms
Data were collected during the early COVID-19 pandemic, a period of heightened anxiety. Hermida Carrillo noted that Germany “values a clear separation between work and home life,” a cultural factor that may shape boundary preferences and conflict dynamics.
Research Lead
Lead researcher Alejandro Canek Hermida Carrillo, a research fellow at Imperial College London, framed remote work as a relational issue, stating “Remote work is a matter of, at least, two.” He emphasizes that employees should weigh both their own and their partner’s segmentation preferences when deciding on remote-work intensity.
Key Findings
In the Munich sample, high remote-work hours combined with mismatched segmentation preferences raised work-to-home conflict for men but lowered it for women. Couples with both partners strongly favoring strict boundaries also reported more conflict. Across both samples, greater conflict predicted higher loneliness for the individual, and in the larger sample, partner loneliness rose as well. Increased loneliness in either partner was associated with a higher likelihood of discussing breakup or divorce.
Implications for Couples and Employers
Persistent work-to-home conflict can erode intimacy, fostering mutual loneliness and relationship instability. Hermida Carrillo advises firms to monitor employees’ work-to-home conflict rather than micromanage home setups, and to keep remote-work options flexible, leaving intensity decisions to employees.
Criticism & Limitations
The studies were conducted in Germany during a pandemic, limiting generalizability. Cultural norms around work-life separation may have amplified effects, and self-report surveys introduce potential bias. Replication in other cultures is needed.
Verbatim Quotes
- “We were all working from home more than usual during the pandemic,” — Alejandro Hermida Carrillo, Imperial College London.
- “Unlike men, the more women worked remotely, the more they actually profited from having partners with different segmentation preferences,” — Alejandro Hermida Carrillo.
- “It is unrealistic to expect firms to have knowledge of their employees’ preferences or those of their romantic partners,” — Alejandro Hermida Carrillo.
- “What they could do, instead, is to monitor the extent to which employees experience negative interferences of work in their private lives (i.e., work-to-home conflict),” — Alejandro Hermida Carrillo.
Future Research
The authors propose longitudinal studies of daily boundary-management tactics, cross-cultural replications, and exploration of flexible-work benefits. Systematic monitoring of work-to-home conflict could become a standard metric for organizations seeking to balance productivity and well-being. Such data could inform policy guidelines for remote-work scheduling.
