Working from a distance: Who can afford to stay home during COVID-19? Evidence from mobile device data

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, local and state governments must weigh the costs and benefits of social distancing policy. However, the effectiveness of such policies depend on individuals’ willingness and ability to comply. We propose a simple method to infer sociodemographic heterogeneity in social distancing as measured by Safegraph mobile device data. We document evidence that people’s ability to work from home is a determinant of time spent at home since the beginning of the pandemic. On April 15th, census block groups that are more likely able to work from home spent 3 more hours at home compared to those who were not. We see supporting trends among block groups with differences in income and educational attainment.