Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Energy and Buildings, cilt.360, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Retirement has the potential to significantly alter individuals’ lifestyles. The transition to retirement is associated with a decrease in household income, an increase in time spent at home, and higher household energy consumption. In this study, a fuzzy regression discontinuity design was applied to assess the impact of retirement on household energy expenditures in Türkiye. The results show that although total household expenditure decreases when the head of the household or both spouses retire, energy expenditure increases. Specifically, the transition to retirement raises energy expenditure by 39–49% in households where only the head retires and by approximately 30% in households where both spouses retire. Moreover, retired households living with their children exhibit higher energy expenditure than those without children. Contrary to the life-cycle hypothesis, which predicts smooth consumption patterns over time, the pronounced change in consumption observed at retirement is commonly referred to as the retirement consumption puzzle. Consequently, a key finding of this study is that there is retirement consumption puzzle in energy among Turkish retirees, and the main reason for this is low income levels during retirement. This is because pensions are significantly lower than pre-retirement earnings. Priority should be given to social policy measures that will increase retirement pensions to an appropriate level to live with dignity. In addition to the financial impact of increased energy expenditure for retired households, they also contribute to environmental problems through greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the use of cheap energy. Therefore, policymakers should take measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as investing in energy efficiency, supporting housing insulation, and providing income-differentiated energy subsidies to mitigate the negative impacts of household energy consumption on environmental sustainability.