{"id":4635,"date":"2025-06-28T06:20:34","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T06:20:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/?p=4635"},"modified":"2025-06-28T06:20:39","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T06:20:39","slug":"energy-povertys-mental-health-impact-goes-beyond-financial-stress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/?p=4635","title":{"rendered":"Energy Poverty&#8217;s Mental Health Impact Goes Beyond Financial Stress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A study from the University of Adelaide has uncovered that the mental health effects of energy poverty extend beyond financial strain and varies significantly depending on how energy poverty is defined. Led by Dr. Rubayyat Hashmi, the research highlights the severe psychological toll of self-reported energy hardship, particularly when combined with income-based measures. The findings were published in&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1016\/j.erss.2025.104115\"><em>Energy Research &amp; Social Science<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>The study compared two definitions of energy poverty:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Monetary energy poverty<\/strong>: Households spending 10% or more of their income on energy bills or falling below the poverty line after energy costs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Self-reported energy poverty<\/strong>: Individuals struggling to maintain comfortable home temperatures or pay bills on time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Hashmi\u2019s team found that while monetary energy poverty alone did not significantly affect mental health, self-reported energy poverty had severe adverse effects. The impact was worse for those experiencing both types.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Monetary energy poverty was more common among low-income males, seniors (65+), and unemployed individuals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Self-reported energy poverty disproportionately affected females, renters, younger adults (25-54), and families with children.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Current exposure to energy poverty has a stronger mental health impact than past exposure, though cumulative exposure worsened outcomes over time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><br>Dr. Hashmi emphasized,&nbsp;<em>\u201cPolicy responses must go beyond income-based eligibility. Incorporating lived experiences and housing quality is critical to supporting vulnerable groups.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study underscores the need for nuanced definitions of energy poverty to guide effective policies. By addressing both financial and experiential dimensions, interventions can better target at-risk populations and mitigate long-term mental health harms. Future research will explore tailored solutions for the most affected demographics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A study from the University of Adelaide has uncovered that the mental health effects of energy poverty extend beyond financial strain and varies significantly depending on how energy poverty is defined. Led by Dr. Rubayyat Hashmi, the research highlights the severe psychological toll of self-reported energy hardship, particularly when combined with income-based measures. The findings [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1123],"tags":[2085,726,1566,301,1091],"class_list":["post-4635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-public-health","tag-energy-poverty","tag-health","tag-health-medicine","tag-mental-health","tag-public-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4635"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4636,"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4635\/revisions\/4636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scientificworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}