Elsevier

Energy Policy

Volume 49, October 2012, Pages 53-59
Energy Policy

Experiencing fuel poverty. Coping strategies of low-income households in Vienna/Austria

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2011.11.076Get rights and content

Abstract

Until the present day, research on fuel poverty focussing on the point of view of those concerned is few and far between. The present paper aims at filling this gap, analysing experiences with and behavioural responses to fuel poverty. It examines the day-to-day energy situation of households, which are poor/at-risk-of-poverty and/or suffering from fuel poverty in a case study conducted in the Austrian capital Vienna. Qualitative interviews provide the data for investigating the relevant factors in causing fuel poverty (among those, bad housing conditions, outdated appliances, financial problems), and provide a basis for discussion about the respective behavioural strategies of the people concerned. The results show that the ways of handling this problematic situation vary greatly and that people follow different strategies when it comes to inventing solutions for coping with the restrictions and finding ways of satisfying at least a part of their basic energy needs. Nonetheless, it also clearly surfaces that the scope of action is limited in many cases, which in turn only supports the claim that changes in the overall conditions are essential.

Highlights

► This paper scrutinises experiences with and behavioural reactions to fuel poverty. ► Analysis of 50 qualitative interviews in Viennese low-income households. ► Low-income and/or fuel poor households face various strains. ► Ways of dealing with fuel poverty vary greatly, scope of action is limited. ► Households are very creative when it comes to coping with restricted conditions.

Introduction

Fuel poverty has become an increasingly urgent problem in recent years. Factors that play a major role in this development involve the complex interplay of rising energy prices, stagnant or decreasing incomes, high levels of unemployment, processes that multiply casualisation, and the slow rate of redevelopment for improving the energy efficiency of residential buildings. It has been estimated that between 50 and 125 million people within the EU are currently living in conditions of fuel poverty (EPEE, 2009), and these figures are predicted to rise further in the near future. Social and political awareness for this problem, however, is still relatively low, or rather, varies considerably (Santillán Cabeza, 2010). In Austria, for example, fuel poverty does currently not feature on the public or political agenda.

Twenty years have passed already since the publication of Boardman's first book on fuel poverty (Boardman, 1991); however, there is still a lack of studies investigating the matter from the perspective of the people concerned and their energy practices, conditions of action, and coping strategies (Boardman, 2010, Radcliffe, 2010). Studies including qualitative aspects have to date exclusively been conducted for selected groups of people on low incomes and/or in situations of fuel poverty (frequently elderly people), or have highlighted certain practices (often heating practices) or problems (e.g. health issues) related to energy consumption (Day and Hitchings, 2009, Gilbertson et al., 2006, Hernández and Bird, 2010, O'Sullivan et al., 2011, Wright, 2004). What is still missing are investigations into the decisive factors of fuel poverty (financial conditions, status of housing and how energy costs are dealt with, amongst others). Therefore, a holistic approach to the daily energy practices of households on low incomes and/or suffering from fuel poverty is called for.

The aim of the project “NELA” (German acronym for “Sustainable Energy Consumption and Lifestyles in Poor and at-Risk-of-Poverty Households”) is to investigate energy consumption in these households in the Austrian capital Vienna1 (Brunner et al., 2011).

The study is based on a broad multidisciplinary approach of social theories ranging from social psychology and socio-economics to sociology and socio-technical systems approaches. Emphasising the socially mediated nature of energy consumption and its socio-technical and infrastructural embeddedness are of central importance. A major point of orientation in the project was provided by a strand of analysis focusing on social practices. This approach understands energy consumption as the sum of a variety of social practices (e.g. cooking, heating) resulting rather from the performance of everyday routines than from conscious decisions (Brand, 2010, Gram-Hanssen, 2009). Pragmatistic approaches (e.g. Symbolic Interactionism) – which resemble the social practices approach in so far as that both focus on behaviour and practices – represented another theoretical cornerstone of the project. However, pragmatistic concepts give less weight to routines and put more emphasis on creative and experimental behaviour in developing concrete solutions (Joas, 1997).

Section snippets

Methods

The core of NELA is a comprehensive survey including qualitative interviews in 50 Viennese households afflicted by poverty. For purposes of comparison, ten more interviews were additionally conducted in better-off households. Research is based on the methodology of “Grounded Theory”, which focuses on the systematic development of theories directly from the data (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). Data was collected in qualitative interviews using an open interview guide, complemented by a questionnaire

Energy burdens and coping strategies

On the following pages, selected results of the project will be described, focusing on the strains and coping strategies2 of households living in fuel poverty.

Types of households: fuel poor and non-fuel poor

Four distinct types of households could be identified in our analysis: “the overcharged”, “the modest fuel poor” (fuel poor), “the modest non-fuel poor”, and the ones “on a low income” (non-fuel poor). Similar classifications (with three types of households) have also been established by Devalière (2010) on the basis of a quantitative study conducted in France.

Policy options

What has surfaced in the analysis of the interviews is that poor/at-risk-of-poverty and/or fuel poor households are characterised by a number of energy burdens und related coping strategies. A comparison of the study at hand with previous studies on strategies for coping with fuel poverty (e.g. Day and Hitchings, 2009, Gilbertson et al., 2006, Harrington et al., 2005, O'Neill et al., 2006, Radcliffe, 2010, Wright, 2004; for an overview see Gibbons and Singler, 2008) reveals numerous

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the anonymous referees for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of the paper, which improved the quality of the paper significantly.

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