Invisible energy poverty? Analysing housing costs in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

The paper presents a comprehensive approach to capturing the scale of exposure to hidden energy poverty at a household level in 11 Central and Eastern European countries. Despite constant refinements, the currently used energy poverty metrics remain highly controversial when it comes to inter-country comparisons. Scarce data and the lack of agreement on the energy poverty definition among the EU countries impedes operationalization of energy poverty measures on a global scale.Instead, we propose a reliable tool for tracking hidden energy poverty based on the existing micro-level data compiled by Eurostat. The paper assumes that the energy poor limit their energy consumption to the level below what is reasonably assumed a decent life. To estimate the expected energy costs, the paper introduces a new statistical approach. We consider multiple aspects of exposure to hidden energy poverty, including dwelling parameters and location, households’ structure, and regional specificity.Our findings confirm that on average 23.57% of the Central and Eastern European population is exposed to hidden energy poverty. The examined profiles are quite heterogeneous. In general, the affected are single-person households or living in detached houses and remote areas households with dependent children. The paper provides suggestions for targeted policy action.