Structural deprivation gradients in energy poverty across four Jordanian household surveys
By harmonizing four Jordanian household surveys (2022–2025) using a consensual indicator framework, this study reveals that while absolute energy poverty rates vary due to methodological differences, structural deprivation gradients across income and rural–urban divides remain stable, supporting targeted income-based interventions over universal subsidies.
Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer
In many parts of the world, keeping a home warm in winter or cool in summer is a basic expectation, not a luxury. Yet for millions of families, the cost of energy creates a constant tension between paying the bills and keeping the lights on. Researchers call this situation energy poverty. It is not simply about having a low income; it is about the specific inability to afford the energy services that allow a household to function normally, such as maintaining a comfortable temperature or paying utility bills on time. While scientists in Europe have spent decades developing precise ways to measure this struggle, the picture in the Middle East and North Africa has remained blurry. Different studies in the region have used different methods, making it impossible to compare results or understand the true scale of the problem. Without a clear map of who is suffering and why, it is difficult for governments to design effective help.
A researcher named Mohammad Jaber set out to clear this fog by looking at four separate surveys conducted in Jordan between 2022 and 2025. These surveys were not originally designed to be a single study; they were independent projects asking different questions to different groups of people. Some focused on solar power, others on electricity conservation, and one looked specifically at a region with many low-income families. Jaber realized that while the surveys asked different questions, they all contained clues about whether people were struggling with energy. He developed a careful method to translate the answers from these four different surveys into a single, common language. By doing this, he could look past the differences in how the questions were asked and focus on the patterns that emerged across all the data.
The most striking discovery was that the struggle to afford energy follows a very consistent path, regardless of which group of people was being asked. In every single survey, households with lower incomes reported significantly more energy problems than those with higher incomes. The gap was large and steady: low-income families were between 26 and 39 percentage points more likely to be energy poor than high-income families. This pattern held true even though the surveys were conducted in different years, in different parts of the country, and with different sets of respondents. It suggests that the link between low income and energy hardship is a deep, structural feature of life in Jordan, not a temporary glitch or a result of bad luck.
A second, equally clear pattern emerged regarding where people live. In every survey, families living in rural areas reported more energy deprivation than those in cities. The difference ranged from about 9 to 22 percentage points, with rural households consistently facing greater difficulties. This gap persisted even in the survey that included the most educated and urban-focused group of people. The fact that the rural disadvantage remained visible, and even grew larger in some cases, points to a fundamental divide in the quality of housing and access to services between the countryside and the cities. It indicates that rural homes may be less efficient at keeping heat in or cool air out, forcing families to spend more or suffer more discomfort just to stay comfortable.
To understand the severity of the financial strain, the researcher looked closely at the first survey, which was the only one that included specific numbers about how much money families spent on energy. In the Zarqa governorate, where this survey took place, the average household spent nearly 18 percent of its annual income on energy. This is a heavy burden; for context, households in the European Union typically spend a much smaller fraction of their budget on energy. In Zarqa, more than 72 percent of all households spent more than 10 percent of their income on energy, a level that experts consider a sign of severe energy poverty. Among the lowest-income families in that region, every single household exceeded this threshold.
The study also found that looking only at how much money people spend on energy tells only part of the story. Many families who managed to keep their energy bills below the 10 percent threshold were still reporting that they were cold, that they could not sleep because of the heat, or that they had to restrict their use of heating and cooling to save money. This behavior, known as energy rationing, means that a family might appear financially secure on paper while actually suffering from a lack of comfort. The surveys showed that even among families who did not technically qualify as energy poor based on their spending, a large majority still reported these hardships. This suggests that relying solely on expenditure data would miss the true extent of the problem.
These findings have clear implications for how help should be given. Because the struggle is so strongly tied to income, the researcher argues that universal subsidies, which give the same support to everyone regardless of wealth, are not the most efficient solution. Instead, support should be targeted directly at low-income households. Similarly, the persistent gap between rural and urban areas suggests that money alone is not enough; there is a need for specific investments to improve the physical quality of rural homes, such as better insulation and more efficient heating systems. The study concludes that to truly understand and solve energy poverty in Jordan, the country needs to start collecting consistent data on these specific hardships in its national surveys every year. By doing so, policymakers can track progress over time and ensure that help reaches the families who need it most.
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