Combining a Career with Childcare – Is New Technology Homeworking the Way Forward? Available to Purchase

A frequent theme of writing about the “Post‐industrial Future” is the forecast of a rapid growth in working from home with the aid of computers. Such a growth in “new technology homeworking” is seen as a fortuitous development for women workers, especially for professional women who wish to continue their careers and start a family. It is also viewed as an answer for firms likely to face growing labour shortages during the 1990s. This article examines the evidence for a growth in new technology homeworking and what it involves for firms and women employees. Both the context of firms who adopt a cost‐cutting strategy and of firms who prefer a human‐resource strategy will be considered. The article concludes that the growth has been much exaggerated; that the effects on women workers can at best be described as mixed and that most women who wish to combine caring with work would be advised to consider other options. Ironically, new technology homeworking may offer better opportunities to men rather than women.