Poverty In The UK Research Articles

Exploring the relationship between energy poverty and mental wellbeing: a qualitative study

Abstract Background Rising rates of energy poverty in Europe, affecting 11% of households, are a serious public health concern. The inability to meet energy needs impacts mental wellbeing, preventing people from productively engaging in society. Our objective was to explore this relationship within the context of three European cities, each characterized by distinct climatic conditions, cultural and societal characteristics and governance arrangements. This work is part of the European funded research project WELLBASED, grant no. 945097. Methods Semi-structured interviews (n = 34) were conducted with people experiencing energy poverty in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Spain. Purposive sampling ensured the representation of a diverse range of family and household types, gender and experiences with energy poverty. Thematic analysis was conducted using MaxQDA software. Preliminary results The analysis resulted in six themes: (1) worries and fear (2) stress (3) value of the home and neighborhood, (4) caring for others, (5) engaging with daily life and (6) autonomy in managing the situation and seeking for and receiving support. Participants were worried and stressed about the rising energy bills, the thermal discomfort, and health impacts of their poor housing conditions. In relation to caring responsibilities, participants were especially concerned about the impact on their children and prioritized children’s needs. Participants also expressed a strong will for independence and having control over their lives, but at the same time valued being seen and supported. Conclusions The persistent worries, fear and stress highlight implications of failure to meet energy needs for mental wellbeing. Caring responsibilities, engaging with daily life and autonomy proved important for mental wellbeing among people living in energy poverty. Our findings call for addressing energy poverty challenges in public health programs to improve mental wellbeing of vulnerable citizens. Key messages • People experiencing energy poverty in the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands recognize the impact of their energy poverty situation on their mental wellbeing. • The public health community needs to be informed and engaged about the impact of energy poverty on mental wellbeing in order to take action.

Examining the relationship between dwelling energy efficiency and fuel poverty for retrofit strategies: A case study of the United Kingdom

In the midst of a global energy crisis, fuel poverty has become increasingly prevalent. This study examines the effectiveness of energy efficiency retrofits (EERs) in alleviating fuel poverty in the United Kingdom. Using the England fuel poverty dataset with XGBoost and interpretive analyses like Individual Conditional Expectation (ICE) and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP), the research investigates the impact of EERs on fuel poverty. Findings reveal that while energy efficiency enhancements hold potential for improving conditions for vulnerable households, their effectiveness diminishes beyond a certain threshold. The study identifies solid wall and cavity wall insulation, condensing boilers, well-insulated lofts, and central heating systems as the most effective retrofit measures. However, the optimal selection of retrofit methods varies depending on household and dwelling conditions due to interactive effects. Additionally, comprehensive cost-efficiency analyses show that installing condensing combination boilers in homes without existing boilers and adding cavity wall insulation to houses with uninsulated cavity walls are more cost-efficient options. These insights shed light on the complex relationship between energy efficiency retrofits and fuel poverty, informing the development of targeted strategies to address this pressing issue in the UK and globally.

Poverty and the Rise and Fall of the Welfare State in Britain, 1900 to the Present

Poverty in the UK has recently risen to levels and created conditions not seen since c.1900. Then, the poverty revealed in major surveys by Booth and Rowntree created shock and proposals for change leading to the first measures of what became the Welfare State. Then, as now, a major cause of poverty was inadequate pay for precarious work, though another significant cause now is the decline of the Welfare State. State welfare expanded gradually from 1906 to 1945, then much faster, along with full employment and labour market regulation, especially under Labour governments until the late 1970s. Poverty declined but never disappeared. Under Thatcher’s Conservative government, 1979–1990, state welfare was severely cut and poverty shot up. After some respite under New Labour, 1997–2010, a period of successive Conservative governments since 2010 has witnessed significant cuts to social welfare and an increase in poverty causing serious deprivation comparable with the early 1900s. But there are fewer proposals for reform now than then, though they are urgently needed.

Dying in the margins: Experiences of dying at home for people living with financial hardship and deprivation

Home dying is a policy indicator of ‘quality dying’ in many high-income countries, but there is evidence that people living in areas of higher deprivation have a reduced likelihood of dying at home. However, there is limited research which centres the views and experiences of people living with both socioeconomic deprivation and serious advanced illness. We deployed visual methods to address this gap in knowledge, focusing on barriers to, and experiences of, home dying for people experiencing poverty and deprivation in the UK. We used photovoice and professional documentary photography between April 2021 and March 2023 with eight participants with serious advanced illness, six of whom had died by the end of the study. We also worked with four bereaved family members to create digital stories. This produced a large volume of multi-modal data which we analysed using a thematic, iterative, interpretive approach. Key findings included the high costs of dying at home, the nature and impact of which were conveyed by images such as a heating thermostat set to low. Images also expressed how for some participants, the environment inside and outside the home was experienced as oppressive and alienating because of cramped, materially poor social housing, as well as urban noise, crime, mould and damp, and a lack of access to outside space. Nevertheless, the home environment was important to all participants, particularly as a site to support the continuation of their identity and autonomy, and some were explicit about wanting to remain at home for as long as possible. This study provides unique insights regarding the significant policy shift needed to improve the extent and experience of home dying for the growing number of people dying in the context of financial hardship and deprivation both in the UK, and elsewhere.

Beyond 'feeding the crisis': Mobilising ‘more than food aid’ approaches to food poverty in the UK

Rising demand for emergency food during the last couple of decades in the UK has led to a great deal of academic interest in food aid provision, and food banking in particular. Efforts have also been made to examine food poverty and responses to it in more critical terms, which has entailed moving beyond a focus on emergency food support to engage with ‘more than food aid’ approaches. In this paper, I discuss how these latter approaches are beginning to be mobilised by national organisations, local authorities and place-based food partnerships in the UK. An important catalyst for this shift was the Covid-19 pandemic, which provided the crisis conditions that encouraged public and third-sector actors to think about, and act upon, food poverty in different ways. Drawing on an analysis of submissions to a Covid-19 food inquiry, place-based food initiatives implemented during the pandemic period and more recent initiatives instigated by national food support and anti-hunger groups, the paper examines how a diverse range of organisations are becoming more critical of existing (food aid) responses to food poverty and are seeking to develop more supportive local foodscapes based on a ‘more than food aid’ approach. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of this shift for future research on food poverty.

The two‐child limit and child poverty in the United Kingdom

AbstractThe United Kingdom two‐child policy was announced in 2015 and began to operate from April 2017. A mother claiming a range of means‐tested benefits who had a third or subsequent child born after 6 April 2017 could not receive a child addition for them, while a new claimant with three or more children would now receive no more than a claimant with two children. Using data from nationally representative annual living conditions surveys for the period up to 2019/20, we find that larger families experienced substantial real income losses since the introduction of the two‐child limit, with proportionally greater losses among those on lower incomes. Income losses among larger families were driven primarily by changes in income penalties to family characteristics, such as the presence of children under three, rather than changes in the distribution of these characteristics. Although this is not a causal analysis, these findings are consistent with a negative impact of the policy change on larger families' incomes.

Dynamics of Fuel Poverty in the Uk and the Impact of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) Affordable Warmth Scheme

Dynamics of Fuel Poverty in the Uk and the Impact of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) Affordable Warmth Scheme

Reducing poverty in the UK to mitigate energy poverty by the 10% and LIHC indicators: What tax changes are needed, and what are the consequences for CO2 emissions?

Energy poverty is driven by four factors: poverty; high energy prices; energy-inefficiency; and specific household characteristics. Increasingly refined definitions of energy poverty (and/or vulnerability) identify types or locations of households most likely to be suffering it. But there is also a place for a different approach, considering poverty reduction directly, as poverty is a necessary component within all energy poverty definitions. This paper investigates how high the UK's top marginal tax rates would need to be, to provide funds to lift low-income UK households above the poverty threshold as defined by the low-income-high-cost (LIHC) and 10% energy poverty indicators. It finds that the increased top tax rates would still be in line with those of other European OECD countries. Using recent and new research on income elasticities of CO2 emissions, it then estimates the net direct effects on CO2 emissions of this redistribution. For both scenarios the most likely effect is a small reduction in net CO2 emissions. Further, indirect downward pressures on CO2 emissions due to reduced income among the highest earners are likely to lead to yet more favourable outcomes for net CO2 emission reduction.

Energy poverty prediction in the United Kingdom: A machine learning approach

Energy poverty affects billions worldwide, including people in developed and developing countries. Identifying those living in energy poverty and implementing successful solutions require timely and detailed survey data, which can be costly, time-consuming, and difficult to obtain, particularly in rural areas. Through machine learning, this study investigates the possibility of identifying vulnerable households by combining satellite remote sensing with socioeconomic survey data in the UK. In doing so, this research develops a machine learning-based approach to predicting energy poverty in the UK using the low income low energy efficiency (LILEE) indicator derived from a combination of remote sensing and socioeconomic data. Data on energy consumption, building characteristics, household income, and other relevant variables at the local authority level are fused with geospatial satellite imagery. The findings indicate that a machine learning algorithm incorporating geographical and environmental information can predict approximately 83% of districts with significant energy poverty. This study contributes to the expanding body of research on energy poverty prediction and can help shape policy and decision-making for energy efficiency and social fairness in the UK and worldwide.

Water poverty in a ‘Hydro Nation’: Exploring distributional and recognitional water injustice in Scotland

Scotland is celebrated as a ‘Hydro Nation’ with abundant water resources and some of the cheapest water in the UK. However, despite claims that the UK is meeting SDG 6.1 (universal access to safe, affordable drinking water), our analysis of twenty interviews with water and fuel poverty professionals found that many households across Scotland struggle to afford and access safe water. This situation was particularly evident for rural water users and BAME (Black and Minority Ethnic) communities. We argue that the current definition of water poverty in the UK is inadequate and obscures the perpetuation of water injustice.

The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Incomes, Inequality and Poverty in the United Kingdom

The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Incomes, Inequality and Poverty in the United Kingdom

Improving access to free school meals for children in poverty in Northern Ireland

ObjectivesTwo thirds of children in poverty did not receive free school meals (FSM) between 2015 and 2019 in Northern Ireland (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland, 2022). This project aims to explore this discrepancy between eligibility and access to FSM and improve access to FSM for all children in poverty.
 MethodsData from the Family Resources Survey (FRS) between 2017 and 2020 was obtained from the UK Data Service and FSM eligibility was calculated using the current criteria provided by the Department for Education in Northern Ireland. Cross-tabulations were used to explore the number of children in receipt of FSM compared to those eligible but not in receipt of FSM. Multilevel logistic regression models used FSM eligibility as the dependent variable and relative and absolute poverty before and after housing costs and number of siblings in a family as the independent variables, controlling for age and gender of the child.
 ResultsPreliminary analysis suggests that increasing the income threshold for families with more than one child provides greater access to FSM for children in poverty. There is also evidence that using the OECD modified equivalisation to adjust household income for larger families improves the rate of FSM eligibility for children in relative and absolute poverty before and after housing costs. The findings aim to provide evidence on the most appropriate threshold and equivalisation calculation required to ensure all children in poverty are eligible for FSM, giving greater access to FSM and educational opportunities to those children who need it most.
 ConclusionThe project will inform the current Anti-Poverty Strategy which is under review in Northern Ireland highlighting the need to consider family size through equivalisation into the FSM eligibility criteria. It also emphasizes the importance of administrative data to inform policy on FSM and other educational opportunities in Northern Ireland.

Families of children with disabilities: income poverty, material deprivation, and unpaid care in the UK

Child disability and provision of unpaid care by parents may contribute to a family’s poverty status. In this paper, using data from the Family Resources Survey-2018/19, a sample of 5451 families with dependent children was analysed. Sub-samples were created based on the groups of interest: child disability vs no child disability within the family and unpaid care vs no unpaid care for children with disabilities. Logistic regression models show sociodemographic factors have similar effects on children’s material deprivation and after housing costs poverty across all groups. In contrast, having children with no disability has higher odds of after housing costs poverty.

The rural–urban poverty gap in England after the 2008 financial crisis: exploring the effects of budgetary cuts and welfare reforms

ABSTRACT A rural–urban poverty gap exists in most countries around the world, and this paper employs a novel approach to explain this difference, using logistic regression to examine the effects of rural–urban residence type, individual socio-economic and demographic characteristics, and changes in government policies on the likelihood of being poor in England. Unusually, rural areas in England have lower poverty rates than urban areas, so the direction of the typical rural–urban poverty gap is reversed, but the method employed here would be applicable in either direction. We disaggregate micro-data from the Understanding Society Survey (USS) into three residence types (predominantly rural; significantly rural and predominantly urban), and combine these USS data with information on changes in councils’ spending power, in service spending and in per capita income lost from cuts to welfare benefits since 2010. The results demonstrate that rural residence provides a buffer against poverty in England, a so-called ‘rural advantage effect’, but this is reduced or becomes non-significant after controlling for individual socio-economic and demographic characteristics and changes in government policies. Furthermore, working-age poverty has increased more rapidly in rural areas than urban between 2010 and 2018. Our analysis also reveals how national policies have differential spatial impacts on local populations according to their diverse characteristics.

Towards more equitable energy transitions in low-income households: An integrated analysis of energy and transport poverty in Northern Ireland

Despite increasing policy emphasis on creating a more equitable society as a key component of the energy transition, there is still a dearth of assessments investigating the equity outcomes of decarbonisation scenarios and community scale Just Transition case studies, and those focusing on both energy and transport. This work seeks to fill this gap by examining energy and transport poverty could be alleviated by scenario analysis of these linked aspects of the Just Transition using an urban and a rural case study in Northern Ireland. This work examines the total costs of ownership of mode shifting and car sharing in transport and investment needs for domestic retrofit for energy poverty alleviation. The analysis finds that eBikes for suitable commutes bring substantial economic and environmental benefits compared to cars. For car sharing, the economic and environmental benefits are also substantial, with electric vehicles becoming cost effective at all occupancy rates from 2025. Regarding the alleviation of energy poverty, the mean cost to retrofit energy poor dwellings ranges from £2,143 depending on dwelling type. However, up to 3.5% of residents of each dwelling type will find the consequent debt burden causes significant financial stress, particularly for the elderly and those claiming benefits. This study concludes that the current mechanisms to support energy and transport poverty alleviation are insufficient and too narrowly targeted. Their expansion is a requisite component of any hopes of achieving a Just Transition in Northern Ireland.

Beyond the Pandemic – Poverty and School Education in Scotland

Abstract The introduction of Universal Credit and the effects of the economic crisis precipitated by the Covid-19 pandemic, compounded by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have all contributed to a rise in the levels of poverty and child poverty in Scotland and the wider United Kingdom. The rise in child poverty will have an impact on an increasing number of children and young people and their effective engagement with school education. This article presents a series of research findings and insights by leading researchers from Scottish Universities on key themes in Scottish education that were highly relevant in the pre-Covid and pre-war era, themes that will continue to be highly relevant in the forthcoming years. The themes are: Education in Local Child Poverty Action Reports; Digital Poverty and Education; School Uniform; Challenges for music education in Scotland and Teacher preparation for educational inclusion.

A decade of fuel poverty in England: A spatio-temporal analysis of needs-based targeting of domestic energy efficiency obligations

Like many forms of deprivation, fuel (or energy) poverty has been shown to concentrate spatially. However, there has been limited examination of its spatio-temporal dynamics, notwithstanding the evidence that prolonged periods without sufficient energy services in the home exacerbate negative welfare impacts. To better understand these dynamics, we evaluate how the distribution of relatively high levels of fuel poverty have changed over time across Local Authorities in England, based on government small area estimates. Common trajectories in fuel poverty estimates between 2010 and 2019 are identified using spatio-temporal quantitative methods, specifically sequence and cluster analysis. Relative energy affluence and relative energy deprivation are revealed to be spatially persistent and temporally entrenched. We use these findings to assess the targeting of the UK's energy efficiency obligation, the Energy Company Obligation (ECO). Energy efficiency obligations have become increasingly popular internationally over the last ten years as market-based policy instruments for addressing environmental and social goals. Yet, while significant concerns have been expressed about their utility in addressing fuel poverty, few recent studies have investigated these empirically. We show in England that the targeting of ECO has been disappointing: Local Authorities identified as experiencing entrenched energy deprivation typically receive less support compared to areas where fuel poverty levels fluctuate or are less severe. The paper thus (1) emphasises the importance of spatio-temporalities of fuel poverty, introducing an analytical approach suitable for understanding these dynamics in a range of national contexts; (2) highlights the limitations of energy efficiency obligations as tools for targeting interventions towards households in fuel poverty.

Defining and acting on water poverty in England and Wales

AbstractWater poverty is the lived condition households experience when they are struggling, or unable, to afford their water bills. Despite a relatively low public profile, it affected approximately 20% of households in England and Wales in 2020. Currently, as many as 34% of bill payers report struggling to pay fairly frequently. This comprehensive review examines definitions, prevalence and manifestations of water poverty through an analysis of 354 grey and academic documents, dating between 1985 and 2022. Synthesising the literature revealed how water poverty is a structurally-produced problem, reflecting trends in sector governance and wider societal processes. In the 1980s and 1990s, water poverty was characterised by household disconnections, as defaulting customers were considered a drain on the financial health of newly privatised utilities. Owing to civil society opposition, by 2000 water poverty became a technocratic problem of affordability and debt. Despite certain legal protections for vulnerable households, structural drivers of water poverty were unresolved and rates continued to rise, peaking in 2013/2014. Contemporary discourse emphasises extending availability, accessibility and flexibility of support, but structural inequalities remain hidden. It is, therefore, highly questionable whether the water sector in England and Wales can fulfil its commitment to ending water poverty by 2030.

Public support for decarbonisation policies: Between self-interest and social need for alleviating energy and transport poverty in the United Kingdom

Policies for transitions to decarbonised energy and transport systems have implications for social welfare. Here we firstly investigate, via focus groups, public support for policies that have implications for energy and transport poverty in a country with a sizeable incidence of both, the United Kingdom (UK). We then examine which of the publics’ policy preferences concur with those of a wider group of expert stakeholders (n = 47), observing concurrence in the top choices of both for: (i) better public transport; mandating improved energy efficiency in (ii) rental housing and (iii) new homes; and (iv) expanding an income supplement scheme (such as the Warm Home Discount). While the public are relatively supportive of policy for electric vehicles, expert stakeholders see the shift to convergent electrification and digitalisation in domestic contexts as carrying risks for lower income households and those less digitally literate. We highlight that many of the public questioned view themselves as likely to be worthy of assistance, given the level of price inflation in the UK. We conclude that decarbonisation policies require careful attention not only to infrastructure, but to social welfare policy if they are to carry public support.

Policy prescriptions to address energy and transport poverty in the United Kingdom

Tens of millions of households across Europe struggle to afford adequate electricity and heating services and reliable transportation, while recent high fuel prices could lead to an increase in excess winter deaths. Tackling energy and transport poverty is thus of paramount policy importance. Here we document the drivers and lived experiences of energy and transport poverty in the United Kingdom, based on public focus groups and expert interviews. We find a set of policies that resonate with both expert planners and members of the public, implying they have a level of political and social acceptability that other measures may be lacking, notably: mandatory landlord energy efficiency upgrades, increasing the extent of financial assistance to households, cheaper (or even free) bus and train fares and restarting and expanding bus services. We buttress these findings with further suggestions for energy and transport system redesign that better meets emerging principles of energy and social justice.