• University of Edinburgh
• School of Social and Political Studies

Social Policy

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Qualifications

• PhD Social Policy, 2006-2011, University of Edinburgh
• MRes Social Policy (Hons), 2005-2006, University of Edinburgh
  
• MSc Ecological Economics , 2000-2001, University of Edinburgh
• BSc Natural Sciences, 1996-1999, University of Bath

PhD Title

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

Martin held 1+3 funding from the UK Economic and Social Research Council.

Supervisors

Neil Fraser and Alison Koslowski

Research Interests

My overarching interest relates to research into policies that consider and attempt to align social, wellbeing and economic goals with environmental sustainability, taking an interdisciplinary approach to understanding and reconciling tensions between these different aims. 

My PhD research, described below, relates to this, looking at the particular potential of work-life balance policy in combining these goals, taking as its starting point the argument that policies to allow individuals to voluntarily reduce paid work, and hence levels of income and of consumption, in exchange for more non-paid time, can lead to simultaneous benefits to wellbeing and to the environment.  

I am also increasingly interested in research into how policy can effectively combine the maintenance and protection of key ecological services, habitats and biodiversity with socio-economic goals and the needs and wishes of different stakeholders, especially in the context of a changing global climate.

I have undertaken research for the Scottish Government to investigate the potential role of product ecodesign in relation to waste reduction in Scotland, producing a discussion paper for their Zero Waste strategy consultation (see Key Publications below).

Summary of PhD research

My PhD research estimates the impact of different working time/work life balance policies on a nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. The work investigates the impact of existing working patterns on greenhouse gas emissions, and looks at how changes in these patterns could affect greenhouse gas emission levels and the meeting of social, wellbeing and economic goals, discussing potential tensions between them.  The research makes a theoretical and methodological contribution to the analysis and development of working time policies from an integrated environmental and socio-economic perspective, and estimates the potential impact of different changes in working time on national greenhouse gas emissions in the UK and the Netherlands.

Secondary data from the UK Expenditure and Food Survey and Dutch budgetonderzoek are combined with “environmental conversion factors”, which provide figures for the greenhouse gas emissions associated with a pound or euro spent on different products (with thanks to the Stockholm Environment Institute, York, and Kees Vringer et al. for these data), to estimate the effects of working patterns and income levels on greenhouse gas emissions at the household level.  These results are then extrapolated to the national level and used to model different scenarios of change in the working patterns of the two populations.

Policies which alter the working patterns of the population, in terms of rates of participation in paid labour, average working hours, and use of career breaks, are found to have significant effects on national greenhouse gas emissions, as they alter mean levels of paid work, household income, and so consumption.  It is argued that this implies that the effects of working time policies on environmental goals should be explicitly considered.  While current working time policy goals, which are to increase labour market participation rates, will likely increase national greenhouse emissions, there seems to be potential to use working time policy to achieve goals for reducing emissions without compromising wellbeing, through increased support and incentives for reductions in mean working hours and increasing use of career breaks.

Selected other work

December 2008 – present: Assistant editor, European Journal of Social Security

August 2008 – Sept 2009: Web Content Editor, University of Edinburgh Social Policy website

January – April 2009: Internship in Environment Social Research, Rural and Environment Research and Analysis Directorate, Scottish Government, contributing work to the National Waste Management Plan review process

January – April 2009: Facilitator, Research Design MSc course, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh

March 2008: Copy Editor, EDACwowe website – the European Data Centre for Work and Welfare

Memberships

Work, Employment and Welfare research group

RECWOWE - Reconciling Work and Welfare in Europe, member of task ‘An ecology of life courses and associated flows of resources in the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Denmark, Spain and Norway’

ESEE - The European Society for Ecological Economics

Key publications, presentations and research contributions

2010:
Presenter at the workshop on employment policy in a Steady State Economy at The Steady State Economy Conference: Working towards an alternative to economic growth, 19th July, Leeds.
Contributing author to the employment chapter (chapter 9) of the conference report, Enough is Enough.  Download the full report or executive summary.

2009:
Author of Reducing waste through promoting product ecodesign: A discussion paper, which discussed the possible role of product ecodesign in Scotland's new Zero Waste strategy. Environment Social Research, Scottish Government: Edinburgh. Full paper.

Presenter of Work life balance policy as sustainable consumption policy: the environmental impacts of working time reduction in UK households with children, at the 8th International Conference of the European Society for Ecological Economics: Transformation, innovation and adaptation for sustainability, 29th June - 2nd July, Ljubljana, Slovenia. 

2007:
Developer of the questions used in a special survey module for the 2007 wave of this Dutch national panel survey, the DNB Household Survey.  The module covers the new Life Course Savings Scheme and also adds additional psychological questions.  Visit the DNB survey website.