Does off-farm work alleviate rural households’ energy poverty in China? Comparative analysis based on livelihood patterns

Energy poverty is a global problem, particularly complex and severe in rural areas of developing countries. To address this issue, a theoretical framework is constructed based on the energy ladder theory and family altruism theory, to discuss the role of off-farm work in alleviating energy poverty for rural households. Using data from the Chinese Family Panel Studies, this study identifies the off-farm work patterns and multiple energy poverty index (MEPI) of different rural households, then analyzes the off-farm work and the distance of off-farm work on the MEPI of rural households by employing Oprobit model and conditional mixed process method and verifies the mediating effect of household income. The results show that local off-farm work significantly alleviates the MEPI among rural households. This effect is particularly pronounced among entrepreneurial households and those residing in communities with a higher level of commercial development. On the other hand, the MEPI alleviation effect of distant off-farm work is relatively modest, and this mitigation effect disappears among households with left-behind students and those living in communities with lower levels of commercial development. Furthermore, both forms contribute to the alleviation of MEPI by enhancing household income.