Fuel Poverty

IN ENGLAND fuel poverty is a term used to define a poverty condition in which the economic resources are not available to purchase enough fuel to keep a household warm. The term is also used on the continent of [Page 405]Europe. The idea of fuel poverty is present in North America, but it is not a widely used term. A household in England is considered to be fuel-poor when it has to spend more than 10 percent of its income on fuel. This includes not only fuel for heating, but also for heating water, cooking, lighting, and using electrical appliances. In addition the money spent on heating must be enough to reach a temperature of 21 degrees Centigrade (or 69.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in the living room, and 18 degrees Centigrade (64.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in other rooms. If a household has to spend more than 20 percent of its income on fuel, then it is considered to be an example of severe fuel poverty.

Income for a household is calculated as the amount that is necessary to both rent (or pay a mortgage) and heat the dwelling. The National Right to Fuel Campaign in England has proposed that disposable income available after meeting housing costs should be the income used for considering the financial conditions in a household for defining fuel poverty.

The consequences for a household that is experiencing fuel poverty can be very serious. It damages the health of those in the household, where there is not enough fuel available for properly warming living spaces. The quality of life can be so severely affected that the weak—children, the disabled, the chronically ill, and the aged—are made vulnerable to illness and death.

Fuel poverty is an important contributor to death in England and in Europe. In England more people die each winter of fuel poverty than perish from the condition in the rest of Europe.

In 1996 and again in 2001 the English House Conditions Survey was conducted in order to assess the problem of fuel poverty. It found that there were 4.3 million fuel-poor households, with all housing costs included as income. In addition there were 6.8 million fuel-poor households using the disposable-income method, with the housing costs excluded.

In 2004, improvements had reduced the number of households experiencing fuel poverty. In England alone there were 1.4 million households defined as fuel-poor. In the remainder of the United Kingdom (Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland), there were an estimated three million fuel-poor households. However, floating fuel prices can rapidly change the situation.

Several factors contribute to fuel poverty. These include a simple lack of money for buying fuel to heat a home or residence, rapid rises in the price of fuels, poor energy efficiency of the heating equipment, and inadequate weather-proofing in a home or apartment may be such that much of the heat is lost.

Low incomes are a major cause of fuel poverty. The fluctuations in employment conditions may cause some people to become unemployed, and without income from their former job they lack the money for fuel. People in many places in England simply lack the money needed to buy fuel. There is the additional problem that even with the most prudent management of household resources, funds for fuel may not be available. Fuel-price instability can also severely impact households. Rising fuel prices (such as was the case in the fall and winter of 2005), whether electricity, coal, natural gas, or heating oil, can easily destroy a family budget no matter how careful financial planning may be.

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