Quantifying gender in energy poverty: A critical review of data, methodologies and contextual constraints

Despite growing scholarly attention to gender and the deepening field of energy poverty, quantitative research remains largely constrained by binary sex categories and it overlooks relational, identity-based, and intersectional understandings of gender. For the first time, this study offers a systematic review of quantitative methods examining gendered energy poverty through a geographical lens, advancing empirical and conceptual debates in the field. Drawing on global literature, this review examines how data, indicators, and socio-political contexts shape the conceptualization and measurement of gendered energy poverty across space, time, and scale, revealing regional disparities and epistemological constraints. This review underscores that gendered energy poverty is a complex and context-dependent issue shaped by intersecting socio-demographic, cultural, and spatial dynamics. While the widespread use of household headship as a gender proxy enables comparability, it fails to capture intra-household and intersectional dimensions of energy deprivation. The geographic concentration of quantitative studies in the Global South, alongside evidence of spatial heterogeneity, highlights the urgent need for more context-sensitive and gender-responsive research designs. This study challenges the assumption that gender quantification alone ensures progress, especially in the male-dominated energy sector, and emphasizes the need for robust, inclusive data to expose structural inequalities. By critically reviewing existing methods, it lays a foundation for more inclusive, justice-oriented, and contextually grounded research. • Quantitative research on gendered energy poverty remains methodologically limited. • Common reliance on household headship as a gender proxy fails to capture intra-household inequalities. • Geographic concentration in Global South research reveals structural and epistemological imbalances. • Advancing equity requires inclusive data and context-sensitive research frameworks. • Justice-oriented methods are essential to advance gender equity, energy access, and climate goals (SDG 5, 7, 13).