Contrasting approaches to fuel poverty in New Zealand

Lawson, Rob; Williams, John; Wooliscroft, Ben

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2015.02.009

Cited by 29 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Waddams Price et al (2012) compare two measures of fuel poverty, one objective (based on the 10% rule) and one subjective, and conclude that the two measures are positively related but in a complex way since in many cases they do not coincide. Lawson et al (2015) obtain similar results for New Zealand. Moreover, Waddams and Deller (2017) for UK and Deller (2018) for the EU found that the identification of a common fuel poverty metric based solely on spending criteria is problematic due to heterogeneity between countries.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Objective vs. subjective fuel poverty and self-assessed health

2020

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Policies towards fuel poverty often use relative or absolute measures. The effectiveness of the official indicators in identifying fuel poor households and assessing its impact on health is an emerging social policy issue. In this paper we analyse objective and perceived fuel poverty as determinants of selfassessed health in Spain. In 2014, 5.1 million of her population could not afford to heat their homes to an adequate temperature. We propose a latent class ordered probit model to analyse the influence of fuel poverty on self-reported health in a sample of 25,000 individuals in 11,000 households for the 2011-2014 period. This original approach allows us to include a 'subjective' measure of fuel poverty in the class membership probabilities and purge the influence of the 'objective' measure of fuel poverty on self-assessed health. The results show that poor housing conditions, fuel poverty, and material deprivation have a negative impact on health. Also, individuals who rate themselves as fuel poor tend to report poorer health status. The effect of objective fuel poverty on health is stronger when unobserved heterogeneity of individuals is controlled for. Since objective measures alone may not fully capture the adverse effect of fuel poverty on health, we advocate the use of approaches that allow a combination of objective and subjective measures and its application by policy-makers. Moreover, it is important that policies to tackle fuel poverty take into account the different energy vectors and the prospects of a future smart and integrated energy system. Abstract.Policies towards fuel poverty often use relative or absolute measures. The effectiveness of the official indicators in identifying fuel poor households and assessing its impact on health is an emerging social policy issue. In this paper we analyse objective and perceived fuel poverty as determinants of self-assessed health in Spain. In 2014, 5.1 million of her population could not afford to heat their homes to an adequate temperature. We propose a latent class ordered probit model to analyse the influence of fuel poverty on self-reported health in a sample of 25,000 individuals in 11,000 households for the 2011-2014 period. This original approach allows us to include a 'subjective' measure of fuel poverty in the class membership probabilities and purge the influence of the 'objective' measure of fuel poverty on self-assessed health. The results show that poor housing conditions, fuel poverty, and material deprivation have a negative impact on health. Also, individuals who rate themselves as fuel poor tend to report poorer health status. The effect of objective fuel poverty on health is stronger when unobserved heterogeneity of individuals is controlled for. Since objective measures alone may not fully capture the adverse effect of fuel poverty on health, we advocate the use of approaches that allow a combination of objective and subjective measures and its application by policymakers. Moreover, it is important that policies to tackle fuel poverty take...

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Objective vs. subjective fuel poverty and self-assessed health

2020

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“…That is 28.4% of households with a MVC were spending more than 10% of their households total income on their energy needs in 2014 compared to 16.1% of non-MVCs. If petrol and diesel costs for transport are included in the calculation for indicating fuel poverty, as suggested by Lawson et al [11] then the proportion rises to over 30%. Table 3 below presents the results to the main research question posed for this paper.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health, vulnerability, and energy: Assessing energy markets and consumer agency in New Zealand

Lawson

Robertson

Wooliscroft

2016

Energy Research & Social Science

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“…Though poverty is only one measure of hardship, it is significant because there is an abundance of evidence linking poverty to the increased likelihood of experiencing material hardship and negative outcomes in the form of reduced life chances. For example, poor New Zealanders are twice as likely to experience hospital admissions for infectious diseases than non-poor (Baker et al 2012); they are more likely to experience fuel poverty (Lawson et al 2015), and are more likely to experience severe material hardship. This is defined by Perry (2009) as the inability to afford to participate in social events (like weddings, birthday parties, or funerals) due to a lack of resources; the inability to afford a good bed, to heat two main rooms adequately, to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables regularly, to replace worn-out shoes, to purchase sufficient meat for the household's needs, to afford suitable clothes for important social occasions, to maintain doctors' appointments, or to purchase prescriptions.…”

Section: Neoliberalism and Poverty In New Zealandmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Rumours of neoliberalism’s death have been greatly exaggerated”: Re-moralisation of the poor in Aotearoa New Zealand

Oak

2015

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This article examines the enduring influence of the principle of methodological individualism in New Zealand society, following thirty years of neoliberal economic policies. It contextualises this examination within the global financial crisis of 2008-2011 and the debate as to whether this crisis signalled the start of a post-neoliberal epoch. Drawing upon welfare reforms over the past sixteen years, it argues that, within New Zealand, neoliberalism has become more entrenched than ever, manifest in the persistent remoralisation of those defined as poor and through the ways in which the principle of methodological individualism is frequently invoked as a solution to the challenges presented by neoliberal welfare entrenchment. Though it acknowledges neoliberalism as a contested political project, this article supports the view that continuities in successive National and Labour government welfare reforms in housing, child welfare, and social security have embedded a neoliberal culture of disparagement for those deemed unsuitable or unable to participate in the market.

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Contrasting approaches to fuel poverty in New Zealand

Cited by 29 publications

References 9 publications

Objective vs. subjective fuel poverty and self-assessed health

Objective vs. subjective fuel poverty and self-assessed health

Health, vulnerability, and energy: Assessing energy markets and consumer agency in New Zealand

“Rumours of neoliberalism’s death have been greatly exaggerated”: Re-moralisation of the poor in Aotearoa New Zealand

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