Research has suggested that men might be more productive than women when it comes to working from home.

Conducted by Dr Abigail Powell from the University of New South Wales in Australia, the research looked at 7,000 employees and found that men tended to be better at “maintaining boundaries” between work and domestic chores.

Dr Powell confirmed that “men who work at home did not increase their share of child care”. She added that men actually recorded an extra 51 minutes of paid work compared to their time working when commuting, while women only recorded an extra 41 minutes.

Women involved in the study explained that working from home generally resulted in them balancing childcare and housework.

Social researcher Mark McCrindle spoke to the Australian Financial Review about the study: “Companies always fear their employees might slack off, but I think they are also coming around to the fact people slack off at work, in the office, too.

“It’s more possible to work from home now. It was talked about in the eighties but now technology makes it possible to make it a reality.”