What are the implications?
Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2025 5:39 am
In terms of the impact of becoming cold on mental health the analysis showed that, even after controlling for a range of important factors including employment and income, becoming unable to keep the home adequately warm is associated with statistically significant increases in the odds of reporting severe mental distress. For people who showed russia rcs data no mental distress on entry to the survey their odds of reporting severe mental distress doubled if their home became too cold. For those who had borderline mental distress their odds tripled. Keeping homes suitably warm is therefore important for mental, as well as physical, health.
Our analysis highlights the detrimental effect of cold housing on mental health, with a striking scale of effect, especially for people who are already at the edges of severe mental health problems.
The analysis also reveals the unevenness across the population of vulnerability to having cold housing, and the worrying fact that people with other forms of disadvantage, illness and disability are most likely to have housing that is cold.
This is particularly relevant at a time of high energy costs and increased financial difficulty. Cold homes are an easy target for policy intervention, and our results support calls for improved energy efficiency in homes and greater financial support for those struggling. Reducing the number of people living in homes that they are unable to keep suitably warm, whether due to energy inefficiency or financial constraints, has the potential to reduce mental health problems, health inequalities, and health spending, with potential positive consequences for employment and productivity.
Our analysis highlights the detrimental effect of cold housing on mental health, with a striking scale of effect, especially for people who are already at the edges of severe mental health problems.
The analysis also reveals the unevenness across the population of vulnerability to having cold housing, and the worrying fact that people with other forms of disadvantage, illness and disability are most likely to have housing that is cold.
This is particularly relevant at a time of high energy costs and increased financial difficulty. Cold homes are an easy target for policy intervention, and our results support calls for improved energy efficiency in homes and greater financial support for those struggling. Reducing the number of people living in homes that they are unable to keep suitably warm, whether due to energy inefficiency or financial constraints, has the potential to reduce mental health problems, health inequalities, and health spending, with potential positive consequences for employment and productivity.