Following the terrorist attacks of September 11 and their enormous impact on the airline industry, more professionals have been looking to telecommuting as a way to cut down on time spent commuting and traveling, and spend more time with their families. While some have welcomed this change as allowing them to take a more active role in their children's lives, many have found that they end up spending no additional time with their children and that their job and parenting responsibilities conflict more often than with traditional work structures. A recent study by the Families and Work Institute has shown that establishing firm boundaries between work and home life is necessary if the pitfalls of telecommuting are to be avoided, and the benefits realized.
See "Some find telecommuting mixed blessing", CAROL KLEIMAN, Chicago Tribune, November 5, 2001