Time of Use tariffs, childcare and everyday temporalities in the US and China: Evidence from time-use and sequence-network analysis

Time of Use (ToU) tariffs that aim to shift people’s energy use away from peaks have been key demand-side management measures. Yet, their effectiveness has often been below expectations. In this paper we empirically test arguments based on social practice theory that this underperformance is not the result of people making ill-informed or economically questionable decisions but reflects the complexities of social synchronization. Using sequence-network analysis, we visualize and comparatively analyze time-use data from the US and China to capture everyday temporalities of a particular time-inflexible group – child caregivers. Findings show that timing and sequencing of peak activities for caregivers in both countries were largely structured by institutional and family rhythms, though with considerable differences in extent and timing of influences due to diverging childcare cultures. The necessity to follow these rhythms leaves caregivers little room to adjust their peak activities to ToU tariffs, turning this well-intended measure into an inequitable financial burden on the group. We argue that policymakers should deploy time-varying tariffs in ways that align with everyday temporalities of population groups. Cutting critical and daily peaks in ways that work with people’s temporal (in)flexibilities in everyday practices could be a key to the effectiveness of energy measures.