The nexus between energy poverty, social capital and well-being in Gauteng, South Africa
The paper reports on an investigation into the impact of energy poverty and social capital on well-being, comparing individuals from below- and above-poverty line households. A multidimensional energy poverty index (MEPI) was constructed using a generalised structural equation modelling approach to...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Cape Town
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Journal of Energy in Southern Africa |
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| Online Access: | https://energyjournal.africa/article/view/19851 |
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| author | Alan Dixon Brown Jeong Hwan Bae Dmitriy Li Juhee Jeong |
| author_facet | Alan Dixon Brown Jeong Hwan Bae Dmitriy Li Juhee Jeong |
| author_sort | Alan Dixon Brown |
| collection | DOAJ |
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The paper reports on an investigation into the impact of energy poverty and social capital on well-being, comparing individuals from below- and above-poverty line households. A multidimensional energy poverty index (MEPI) was constructed using a generalised structural equation modelling approach to measure the effect of energy poverty on well-being. We found that that higher levels of energy poverty, measured objectively as an MEPI, or subjectively as energy satisfaction, affected well-being negatively, while higher levels of social capital increased well-being. However, the effects varied by household income: MEPI only had a negative effect on well-being for low-income household respondents, and subjective energy poverty only had a negative effect on low-income and middle-income household respondents. Similarly, social capital’s impact varied by household income: for both groups, the strongest source of higher well-being was a sense of belonging, whereas the impact of political trust was stronger for higher-income groups. The findings suggest that policies which decrease energy poverty would improve well-being, but should take into account specific household and community characteristics. Further, fostering neighbourhood social capital is essential, especially for the poorest of the poor.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-634b5939bc844dc397f867f7f32dc6f4 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1021-447X 2413-3051 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | University of Cape Town |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Energy in Southern Africa |
| spelling | doaj-art-634b5939bc844dc397f867f7f32dc6f42025-08-20T03:08:28ZengUniversity of Cape TownJournal of Energy in Southern Africa1021-447X2413-30512025-05-0136110.17159/2413-3051/2025/v36i1a19851The nexus between energy poverty, social capital and well-being in Gauteng, South AfricaAlan Dixon Brown0Jeong Hwan Bae1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2198-2843Dmitriy Li2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5601-8259Juhee Jeong3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0346-0614Center for Regional Development, Chonnam National UniversityDept. of Economics, Chonnam National UniversityCenter for Regional Development, Chonnam National UniversityCenter for Regional Development, Chonnam National University The paper reports on an investigation into the impact of energy poverty and social capital on well-being, comparing individuals from below- and above-poverty line households. A multidimensional energy poverty index (MEPI) was constructed using a generalised structural equation modelling approach to measure the effect of energy poverty on well-being. We found that that higher levels of energy poverty, measured objectively as an MEPI, or subjectively as energy satisfaction, affected well-being negatively, while higher levels of social capital increased well-being. However, the effects varied by household income: MEPI only had a negative effect on well-being for low-income household respondents, and subjective energy poverty only had a negative effect on low-income and middle-income household respondents. Similarly, social capital’s impact varied by household income: for both groups, the strongest source of higher well-being was a sense of belonging, whereas the impact of political trust was stronger for higher-income groups. The findings suggest that policies which decrease energy poverty would improve well-being, but should take into account specific household and community characteristics. Further, fostering neighbourhood social capital is essential, especially for the poorest of the poor. https://energyjournal.africa/article/view/19851multidimensional energy poverty indexsubjective energy povertysense of belongingcommunity trustpolitical trustincome level |
| spellingShingle | Alan Dixon Brown Jeong Hwan Bae Dmitriy Li Juhee Jeong The nexus between energy poverty, social capital and well-being in Gauteng, South Africa Journal of Energy in Southern Africa multidimensional energy poverty index subjective energy poverty sense of belonging community trust political trust income level |
| title | The nexus between energy poverty, social capital and well-being in Gauteng, South Africa |
| title_full | The nexus between energy poverty, social capital and well-being in Gauteng, South Africa |
| title_fullStr | The nexus between energy poverty, social capital and well-being in Gauteng, South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | The nexus between energy poverty, social capital and well-being in Gauteng, South Africa |
| title_short | The nexus between energy poverty, social capital and well-being in Gauteng, South Africa |
| title_sort | nexus between energy poverty social capital and well being in gauteng south africa |
| topic | multidimensional energy poverty index subjective energy poverty sense of belonging community trust political trust income level |
| url | https://energyjournal.africa/article/view/19851 |
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