Are Women Better Energy Managers in a Developing Country?

Abstract

Energy Management at household level is multifaceted issue due to factorsinvolving gender, education and awareness to energy usage. This study wasconducted in Peshawar city, Pakistan which is capital city of the provinceand densely populated. This study identifies the role of women in energymanagement at household level keeping in view household’s characteristicsin an underdeveloped country. The key factors included were (1) educationand job status (2) characteristics of nuclear and joint family system (3)energy consumption pattern of the households and (4) awareness of energymanagement and its implementation amongst the females in the household.One-way ANOVA test shows that women spend more than three hours whileutilizing energy appliances. In addition, awareness of high billing cost perunit, electricity consumption during peak hours’ unit, idea of renewableenergy sources and their use cum awareness level was found to be extremelylow. The results show that the education of husband and wife is indistinguish-able and the females are the major decision makers in carrying the householdchores. Males are the sole bread winners of the house and majority of thefemales are housewives despite of attaining higher education. Despite thefact that women are aware of household energy management, there is still a need for full implementation and awareness among women in the household.Lastly, trend of nuclear family system is making pace in the Pakistan andenergy management and utility bills are handled independently. The resultscan be used for policy making in developing countries.