But the picture is more complex. This may be true for traditional forms of homeworking, as other studies undertaken by bodies such as the TUC and ILO have indicated. However, it may be that this is not the case for newer forms of more flexible, home-based work which, it may turn out, is dominated by well qualified professional white males. We can't say this with a high degree of certainty as yet, as unfortunately the LFS despite the question on use of ICT does not make a clear-cut distinction between job types. But testing this hypothesis and finding out why this might be so would be a fruitful area for further investigation.
Home located workers are on average better qualified than the employed workforce as a whole.
Here again the higher incidence of manual work amongst those working mainly from home is evident in the results. The literature often suggests that working at home is predominantly undertaken by mothers with young children, the under-qualified, and members of ethnic minorities. These types of jobs are often very low paid. But it also raises others. The key area where greater clarity needs to be introduced in future survey work is on the type of work undertaken.