How ageing shapes the relationship between working time and carbon dioxide emissions: Evidence from Chinese households

Working time and ageing have become increasingly prominent in the ongoing discussions on the transition to a low-carbon society. However, little research has considered the impact of their interaction on carbon dioxide emissions. The present study addresses this gap by exploring how ageing affects the relationship between working time and emissions. We adopt the stochastic impacts by regression on a population, affluence, and technology (STIRPAT) model and two-way fixed effects regression model to investigate the effects of household total weekly working time and proportion of elderly family members on indirect household emissions by using the 2010–2018 panel data from China Family Panel Studies. Results show that the working time elasticity of carbon emissions is 0.092, indicating that a reduction in working time can reduce indirect household emissions. Considering the interaction item between working time and ageing, the working time elasticity changes to −0.228. This suggests that ageing reshapes the effects of working time on emissions by decreasing working time and shaping time allocation and consumption to be more carbon-intensive. The findings suggest that work time reduction policies should be designed for households whose occupants are no more than 1/3 elderly people and households with annual income greater than CNY 97.9 thousand.