Is energy poverty characterized by a gender and migration bias? Microdata evidence from the Netherlands

We assess the increasingly prevalent assertion that energy poverty in high-income countries disproportionately affects women and households with a migration background. Much of the existing evidence supporting this claim is non-causal and often fails to disentangle the effects of income. To address these limitations, we apply both descriptive statistical methods and a two-stage logistic regression analysis to comprehensive, high-quality administrative microdata covering nearly 90 % of Dutch households. We examine how gender, migration background, income, and housing characteristics interact to shape energy poverty outcomes. Our key finding is that what initially appears as a gender or migration bias in energy poverty statistics is, in fact, primarily a reflection of income disparities across these demographic groups. Beyond income, our results also highlight the importance of spatial, institutional, and behavioral factors in shaping vulnerability. In particular, we find that the relatively high energy quality of social housing in the Netherlands mitigates the risk that women and migrants—despite a gender and migration pay gap—end up in energy poverty. We also identify differences in energy poverty subtypes: women are more exposed to combinedenergy poverty (energy-inefficient housing and high energy costs), while men are more likely to exhibit hidden energy poverty (energy-inefficient housing but low energy costs). These findings underscore the importance of addressing structural inequalities in income and housing beyond the energy domain when designing effective policies to reduce energy poverty. A just and inclusive energy transition will therefore depend on addressing the broader socio-economic and institutional conditions that underlie energy poverty.