Why did we do this?
There is a wealth of robust evidence confirming that cold homes negatively impact people’s health. The World Health Organization recommends that temperatures of at least 21°C in living rooms and 18°C in bedrooms provides a healthy living environment.
For people living in cold homes, the most widely documented health effects tend to be physical – for example respiratory disorders or cardiovascular disease, but recent work has highlighted the russia rcs data importance of harder to measure mental health effects. People who live in homes that they are unable to keep suitably warm report reduced feelings of autonomy and control, impacts on sleep, reduced social activities, as well as financial strain. These pathways all potentially contribute towards poorer mental health.
What data did we use?
We used data from Understanding Society (the UK Household Longitudinal Study) that covered 2009 (when its first wave was conducted) to 2021 (wave 11, the most recent data collection). Understanding Society has a number of advantages for this type of research. Firstly its longitudinal nature allows us to track people’s housing experiences alongside their mental health, over time. Secondly, the dataset includes well established and validated measures of mental health (we used the General Health Questionnaire) as well as questions detailing perceptions of indoor temperature, alongside information on other important aspects of people’s lives, such as their employment, demographics, and financial situation.