Energy Insecurity, Federal Assistance, and Income Inequality: Maladaptive Coping Behaviors Among U.S. Households during COVID-19

Introduction/Background: Energy insecurity, the inability to adequately meet household energy needs, has become an increasingly important dimension of socioeconomic vulnerability in the United States. When households struggle to pay energy bills, they may adopt coping strategies that compromise health and well-being, including maladaptive coping behaviors (MCBs) such as reducing spending on essential necessities like food, rent, or medicine (MCB1) or maintaining unsafe or unhealthy indoor temperatures to lower energy costs (MCB2). The risk of utility disconnection intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, when widespread job losses reduced household incomes and stay-at-home policies increased residential energy demand, resulting in more than 12 million U.S. households receiving at least one utility disconnection notice (UDN) and leaving many households vulnerable to MCBs.

Two structural conditions may shape households’ behavioral responses to energy insecurity. First, the United States maintains a federal energy assistance infrastructure through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the largest social welfare program supporting low-income households in meeting basic home energy needs, with funding expanded to approximately $4.5 billion during the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, broader economic disparities reflected in state-level income inequality may influence household vulnerability beyond the direct effects of household income, potentially constraining households’ ability to maintain safe energy use. This study examines how household-level access to LIHEAP and state-level income inequality jointly influence MCBs among U.S. households experiencing energy insecurity.

Methods: We constructed an integrated dataset combining household-level data from the 2020 U.S. Residential Energy Consumption Survey, including measures of MCBs, UDN receipt, and LIHEAP participation, with state-level income inequality measures derived from the 2020 American Community Survey. State-level income inequality was measured using the Gini index and categorized into low, moderate, and high inequality levels. Multilevel ordered logistic regression models were used to examine household- and state-level risk and protective factors associated with the severity of MCBs. The outcome variable captured three ordered levels of behavioral severity: none, one behavior (MCB1 or MCB2), or both behaviors.

Results/Findings: UDN recipients were significantly more likely to experience severe MCBs than those without receiving a UDN (Odds Ratio [OR] = 8.19, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] [7.33, 9.15]). Among UDN recipients, those assisted by LIHEAP were substantially less likely to experience severe MCBs than those without assistance (OR = 0.38, 95% CI [0.26, 0.56]). Households living in states with moderate or high income inequality were more likely to experience severe MCBs (OR = 1.27, 95% CI [1.11, 1.44] and OR = 1.29, 95% CI [1.13, 1.47], respectively) than those residing in states with low inequality. Notably, LIHEAP assistance was particularly protective in high-inequality states (OR = 0.64, 95% CI [0.42, 0.98]), suggesting that LIHEAP may play an especially important role in mitigating MCBs in more unequal economic contexts.

Conclusion/Implications: LIHEAP mitigates the risk of households adopting maladaptive coping behaviors (MCBs) in response to energy insecurity, particularly in states with higher income inequality. These findings suggest that federal energy assistance can partially offset structural disparities that exacerbate energy insecurity, underscoring the importance of strengthening social welfare program access in economically unequal contexts.