Energy poverty and health: the Turkish case

ABSTRACT

Energy poverty is significantly correlated with various health measures. This study investigates the links between energy poverty and health outcomes in Turkey. A nationally representative household survey is employed to provide empirical evidence for the relationship between a health status index and a self-reported energy poverty indicator. Multi-level model estimation results imply that energy poverty is negatively associated with health level of individuals. House conditions such as physical deficiencies and insulation problems display negative correlations with health status. Moreover, empirical findings reveal that the health statuses of individuals are essentially related to demographics and household-level factors rather than regional-level variables.

KEYWORDS:

• Energy poverty
• health status
• heating inadequacy
• multi-level model
• Turkey

Acknowledgments

The data set of this research is provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TSI). The author thanks to TSI for granting permissions to use corresponding data sources. The author is also thankful to Prof. Dr. Julide Yildirim for discussions on fuel poverty which inspire this research.

Competing interests

None declared.

Ethical approval

Not required.

Additional information

Funding

None.