Climate Change, Time Allocation and the Labour Market

Temperature has substantially increased in the last decades and it is expected to continue increasing in the future. As a response, concerns about its effect on societal outcomes have continuously increased, and a large number of studies have shown that high temperatures have important deleterious effects on the labour market as well as on living conditions (Kruger and Neugart, 2017; Graff and Neidell, 2014; Noelke et al., 2016; Deschenes et al, 2019). Yet, despite changes in temperature have an important effect on both the labour market and living conditions, a much less explored phenomenon is whether climate also alters the distribution of time at work and outside work. Graff and Neidell (2014) show that temperature changes the time people spend outdoors vs indoors, but other than this study, little is known about the effect of temperature on time allocation. This project aims at filling this gap by examining how changes in temperature affect the way in which individuals decide to spend their personal and work life, as well as the medium and long-term implications of these decisions for the labour market. The project is in line with two research priorities of the FNR CORE program: social cohesion and climate change.