Study: Telecommuting is worth a pay cut, especially for men

Several surveys have found people are willing to take a pay cut in order to have the flexibility to work remotely. Now, a new survey is confirming these findings –- but with a twist.

Flexible jobs site Momcorps asked 1,071 working Americans about flexible working and work-life balance. And like Dice and Staples before it, the site found that a significant percentage would take a smaller paycheck in exchange for flexibility. 42 percent of respondents said they would be willing to give up some percentage of their salary for more flexibility at work. On average they’d accept a six percent cut.

So is there any news here? The basic fact that flexibility has monetary value to workers may not be new, but one survey finding may surprise you. If you imagine that those most desperate for flexible work are frantic mothers scrambling to meet their home commitments, think again.

Actually, working men (12 percent) were twice as likely as working women (6 percent) to say they would give up more than 10 percent of their salary for more flexibility at work. In addition, equal percentages of both fathers and mothers (82 percent) thought flexible working would make them better parents and only half of working parents of both genders said they worked a traditional nine-to-five day.

Flexible working is worth money then, and not just to mothers.

Image courtesy of Flickr user erin.kkr, CC 2.0.

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