Working time reduction policy in a sustainable economy:Criteria and options for its design

AbstractReducing per capita consumption, particularly amongst high income groups, is often deemed necessary to reduce the environmental impacts of the global economy. Far from implying a necessary reduction in wellbeing, some research suggests this could actually improve it: as reduced expenditure means a reduced need for income, and hence paid work, then there is the possibility for average working hours to fall, providing increased leisure time in which to pursue happiness through less consumption-intensive, but more time consuming, ways. To date, however, there has been little critical discussion of the details of what policy might need to cover to allow and encourage substantial working time reduction in a way that successfully reconciles these environmental and wellbeing goals. This article addresses this gap in the literature. It begins by reviewing the conditions under which working time reduction could bring environmental and wellbeing benefits. It then presents examples of innovative voluntary working time policies from the Netherlands and Belgium. Drawing these elements together, the article presents a new “green life course approach” for working time policy design. It argues that, as a complement to more conventional working time policies, this could be a valuable tool to combine environmental and wellbeing goals

How do meters mediate? Energy meters, boundary objects and household transitions in Australia and the United Kingdom

This paper investigates the changing role of an integral but often overlooked technology within our energy systems: the meter. Empirical cases from the United Kingdom and Australia demonstrate the repurposing of the energy meter. No longer just an instrument of metrology, the meter is increasingly seen by utilities and governments as a key enabling technology for a raft of objectives, from tariff reform to peak load reduction. We draw on the Science and Technology Studies concept of a boundary object to explore these changes. A boundary object is conceptualised as positioned between different social worlds – such as those of householders, government, and utilities – and as having sufficient interpretive flexibility to mediate between their distinct interests. Here we use the boundary object concept to explain the ways in which the meter is being reconfigured, and in particular to analyse the role of householders in the transition to digital meters

Greening our working lives: the environmental impacts of changing patterns of paid work in the UK and the Netherlands, and implications for working time policy

Paid working patterns are currently regulated by governments around the world for a range of social and economic reasons: to increase labour supply and skills; to provide a strong tax base to support an ageing population; to help people reconcile work and family life over increasingly diversified life courses; and to be in line with the general principle of the activating, employment led welfare state. Environmental considerations rarely feature in the design or evaluation of working time policy. Nevertheless, various authors working on policies for sustainable development argue that reductions in average paid working time could lead to environmental benefits: as people work less, they in turn earn less, and so consume less, resulting in lower environmental impacts from lower levels of production of products. This thesis takes this argument as its starting point, and synthesises these distinct perspectives on working time and its regulation to address two key questions: what level of environmental benefits could arise from such reductions in paid working time?; and what are the implications for the design of working time policy? The research addresses these questions, taking the case of greenhouse gas emissions, and the UK and the Netherlands in the early 2000s as case studies. Using household expenditure survey data and data on product emissions intensities, the relationship between paid working time and emissions is analysed at both the household and national levels. At the household level, statistically and substantively significant correlations are found between higher levels of paid work and higher levels of consumption and so greenhouse gas emissions. The effects on emissions of hypothetical changes in the working patterns of the national populations are then modelled. The research estimates that meeting current national objectives to increase labour market participation rates would increase national greenhouse gas emissions by 0.6-0.7%, a cost that might be considered acceptable if it also achieves its aims of reducing income poverty, benefit dependency, and social exclusion. Meanwhile, widespread reductions in average working hours and increased use of career breaks, with corresponding reductions in income, would reduce national emissions. The scenarios modelled (a 20% reduction in the working hours of full time workers, and increasing use of 3 month career breaks) lead to reductions of 3-4.5% in national emissions, with the corresponding increases in “leisure” time, reductions in income inequality, and reduced gender imbalances in the distribution of paid work potentially also improving wellbeing, social cohesion, and gender equality in work and care. The results indicate that environmental factors warrant consideration in the design and evaluation of working time policy, and that challenging but achievable levels of working time reduction could contribute a small but significant share to meeting greenhouse gas emissions targets. Policy instruments would need to address a range of values, attitudes and norms around employment and consumption, as well as employer and situational factors, if substantial working time reduction were to be achieved. Reconciling diverse environmental, social and economic goals also requires careful policy design, particularly for certain demographic groups such as the low income, who would need financial and other support to turn rights to reduce working time into functional freedoms that they could utilise

Domestic heating behaviour and room temperatures: Empirical evidence from Scottish homes

In this paper, we describe patterns of residential heating based on data from 255 homes in and around Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, spanning August 2016 to June 2018. We describe: (i) the room temperatures achieved, (ii) the diurnal durations of heating use, and (iii) common diurnal patterns of heating behaviour. We investigate how these factors vary between weekdays and weekends, over the course of the year, by external temperature, and by room type. We compare these empirical findings with the simplifying assumptions about heating patterns found in the UK’s Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP), a widely-used building energy performance model. There are areas of concurrence and others of substantial difference with these model assumptions. Indoor achieved temperatures are substantially lower than SAP assumptions. The duration and timings of heating use vary substantially between homes and along lines of season and outdoor temperature, whereas the SAP model assumes no such variation. Little variation is found along the lines of weekday vs. weekend, whereas the SAP model assumes differences, or between living space and other rooms, consistent with the SAP. The results are relevant for those interested in how SAP assumptions regarding household heating behaviours and achieved indoor temperatures concur with empirical data

Smart Energy Research Lab: Energy use in GB domestic buildings 2021

Variation in annual, seasonal, and diurnal gas and electricity use with weather, building and occupant characteristics

The SERL Observatory Dataset: Longitudinal Smart Meter Electricity and Gas Data, Survey, EPC and Climate Data for over 13,000 Households in Great Britain

The Smart Energy Research Lab (SERL) Observatory dataset described here comprises half-hourly and daily electricity and gas data, SERL survey data, Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) input data and 24 local hourly climate reanalysis variables from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) for over 13,000 households in Great Britain (GB). Participants were recruited in September 2019, September 2020 and January 2021 and their smart meter data are collected from up to one year prior to sign up. Data collection will continue until at least August 2022, and longer if funding allows. Survey data relating to the dwelling, appliances, household demographics and attitudes was collected at sign up. Data are linked at the household level and UK-based academic researchers can apply for access within a secure virtual environment for research projects in the public interest. This is a data descriptor paper describing how the data was collected, the variables available and the representativeness of the sample compared to national estimates. It is intended as a guide for researchers working with or considering using the SERL Observatory dataset, or simply looking to learn more about it