Drawing on feminist and social science theories of work, this study investigates the climate impacts of two competing approaches to labour reorganisation: affirmative and transformative. Affirmative policies focus on integrating unpaid care labour into the formal economy, while transformative policies advocate for structural changes like reduced work time.

Specifically, we employ time-series analysis of US data from 1950–2020, to examine the relationship between per capita household production (as a proxy for unpaid care work), average paid work hours and carbon emissions.

Key findings indicate that expanding the formal care economy is largely carbon neutral. Conversely, longer working hours were significantly associated with higher carbon emissions, implying that reducing work hours correlates with decreased emission. The findings underscore the need for deeper understanding and consideration of the climate implications of shifts in how labour is valued, organised, and distributed.

About the Speaker:

Orla Kelly, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Social Policy at the University College Dublin, School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice. She specialises in the social dimensions of climate change, with expertise in quantitative research and mixed methodologies. In addition to her PhD in Environmental Sociology, she holds an LLM in International Human Rights and an MSc. in International Business. She previously worked as a Research Associate (2010-2015) and a Research Fellow (2015-2020) at the FXB Centre for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University. Dr. Kelly is part of the international research team investigating the economic, social and environmental implications of worktime reduction and a founding member of the worktime reduction research network (WTR-RN).

Departmental Seminar: Affirming or Transforming Work? Labour, Care, and Carbon in the United States, 1950–2020

Date: 28 July 2025

Time: 11:00am - 12:00pm

Venue: CJT-9.29

Speaker: Dr. Orla Kelly

Registration: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=101672

**Coauthors: Orla Kelly, University College Dublin, Ryan Thombs, Penn State University and Jared Fitzgerald, Oklahoma State University