Research found that a third of UK home-workers have no dedicated workspace at home.
The research was a survey of office workers in general—not home-workers in particular. We don’t know how many of the survey participants worked from home.
Research from the University of Leeds [...] found that a third of UK home-workers have no dedicated workspace at home.
A MailOnline article said that research from the University of Leeds showed that about a third of people who work at home have no dedicated office space there.
This isn’t right.
The research in question actually found that about a third of office workers who responded to a “snapshot survey” in December 2021 didn’t have a home workspace. It doesn’t say how many of them, if any, actually worked at home.
Among people who do work at home, the proportion with a workspace might be different. This data doesn’t tell us.
Dr Matthew Davis, an associate professor at the Leeds University Business School, told Full Fact the claim in the MailOnline article did not reflect the research findings. He said: “Working for long periods in unsuitable workspaces, particularly using computer equipment, can have negative effects on physical health and wellbeing.
“However, many workers will also be working some of their time from traditional offices and third workplaces that provide more suitable ergonomic workstations.”
Following contact from Full Fact, MailOnline corrected the article.
The media should report research accurately so that the public understands what we know, and what we don’t, about important subjects that affect us all. When a mistake happens, it’s really important to correct the record, so we’re very grateful to MailOnline for doing so.
Image courtesy of Andrew Neel
As detailed in our fact check, MailOnline amended its article and added a footnote.
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