Air‑Conditioned Homes Boost PISA Scores, Study Finds

Researchers Christian König of the German Institute for Economic Research (WZB) and Richard Nennstiel of the University of Lausanne analysed data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) covering almost 580,000 students in 21 countries between 2006 and 2022. The study shows that children living in homes with air‑conditioning achieve higher mathematics test scores than peers without such climate protection.

Access to home air‑conditioning varies sharply by parental education level, creating a new source of educational inequality. The gap narrows in nations where air‑conditioning is already widespread, such as Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. Hong Kong recorded the highest private‑ownership rate (98.5 %), while the Philippines had the lowest (35.5 %).