Fuel Poverty and Chronic Illness
What is fuel poverty?
‘The rough and ready definition of fuel poverty is someone who spends more than 10% of their income on keeping themselves warm. However fuel poverty is not just about low incomes. It is part of a complex picture, linked to multiple deprivation, un affordable fuel prices and poor housing stock characterised by inadequate insulation and inefficient heating systems.’
Allan Asher, Chief Executive of Energywatch, United Kingdom.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4656517.stm
‘Fuel poverty arises when inadequate income, poor thermal efficiency of housing, inefficient appliances, needs, life cycle stage and tariff structures intersect’
Duggan and Sharam, 2004, p8.
Or put another way-when people are not able to meet their fuel bills, they accumulate debts, stop using energy or have their energy supplies disconnected, they can be said to be experiencing fuel poverty.
Fuel poverty and people with chronic illness
Fuel poverty may be an issue in households where there are chronic illnesses. It may occur when health care costs such as medications eat into the household budget.
- In some households the presence of illness means that fuel bills increase. Some people with Multiple Sclerosis for instance find that their condition is exacerbated by heat and require air-conditioning in the summer months. People with mobility problems may find it far harder to keep warm. In some instances the use of medical appliances at home may increase the amount of fuel and water used. Often fuel and water bills increase simply because people with chronic illnesses are home more often than they were when they were well.
- Chronic illness is associated with lower income. Duggan and Sharam (2004: 29) demonstrated that of a group who had had difficulty meeting their rent 28% of them attributed this to health care costs. Households may be dependent on payments such as Disability Support Pension, while some households rely on single incomes which are more reduced when the worker has to take time off to attend health related appointment. Lower incomes may mean poor quality housing that is hard to heat and hard to cool, increasing fuel consumption. It may mean that appliances were bought on the basis of their affordability rather than their overall efficiency. Lower incomes mean that there is a higher proportion of the household budget used for rent or mortgage payments, food, health and utilities relative to higher incomes.
- Households in vulnerable situations such as caring for members with chronic illnesses may find they are required to pay connection and reconnection fees and higher tariffs. Some households do not want to discuss the illnesses of household members with utility companies and consequently do not receive assistance.
If you would like to read more about the impact chronic illness has on households’ incomes see the report ‘Costs of chronic illnesses for rural and regional Victorians’.
If you would like to read more about fuel poverty and low income households in rental properties, then see the report “Bleak House: the implications of the contest between private utilities and landlords for the non-discretionary income of vulnerable households”
For research on ensuring the affordability of energy and water for Victorian consumers, please see the report “Access to Energy and Water in Victoria – a research report”, undertaken by CUAC and the Consumer Law Centre Victoria (www.cuac.org.au) .
