Increased time constraints and the need for convenience in raising children appear to offset parents’ concerns about the future when it comes to their carbon footprints, according to new research by University of Wyoming economists and a colleague in Sweden.
Increased time constraints and the need for convenience in raising children appear to offset parents’ concerns about the future when it comes to their carbon footprints, according to new research by University of Wyoming economists and a colleague in Sweden.
UW College of Business economists Jason Shogren and Linda Thunstrom, along with Jonas Nordstrom of the Lund University School of Economics and Management, have documented that two-adult households with children emit over 25 percent more carbon dioxide than two-adult households without children.
Their research appears today (Wednesday) in PLOS One, a journal published by the Public Library of Science.
“While having children makes people focus more on the future and, presumably, care more about the environment, our study suggests that parenthood does not cause people to become ‘greener,’” Shogren and Thunstrom say. “In fact, the difference in CO2 emissions between parents and nonparents is substantial, and that’s primarily because of increased transportation and food consumption changes.”
Read more at University of Wyoming
Photo Credit: 272447 via Pixabay
