Sara Walker (Newcastle University)
Living in cold homes creates health risks for people of all ages and affects their quality of life. Elderly people, children, and those with a disability or long-term illness are especially vulnerable[1]. For these groups, being able to heat their homes to a minimum accepted standard is essential to reduce the risk of morbidity and mortality, and maximise wellbeing[2]. Research into the dynamics of, consequences of, and resilience and responses to fuel poverty has primarily focused on the general population or the older demographic. Younger households are by comparison under-represented: relatively little research has been conducted into the considerable long-term health and social impacts fuel poverty may have on the health and wellbeing of young families and children, and little attention has been paid to the coping strategies such families employ or how they can be supported by targeted policy or practical interventions to alleviate fuel poverty[3].
Despite the difficulties which families with young children face, the UK’s Fuel Poverty Strategy is not focused on families with children and there is no coordinated approach to tackling fuel poverty among families with children[4]. Children are commonly acknowledged to be a vulnerable group though they feature less prominently than other vulnerable groups in the UK Fuel Poverty Strategy. This has led to a situation where, over the last decade, the Fuel Poverty programme has primarily targeted elderly people and people with disabilities, while children have become increasingly marginalised[4].
Research involving elderly people indicates that fuel poverty interventions such as energy efficiency improvements to homes can contribute significantly to mental wellbeing indicators; however, their impact on physical health appears to be marginal. Although fewer in number, the evidence from studies of young families by comparison suggests that living in a warmer home can lead to both mental and physical health benefits[4]. The literature indicates that for infants and children fuel poverty primarily affects their physical health[5], which in turn may affect their overall wellbeing and educational achievement. Among infants, weight gain, hospital admission rates, developmental milestones and the incidence and severity of respiratory conditions such as asthma are all detrimentally affected by colder homes. Young children who have lived in a cold home for three or more of the past five years, for example, are more than twice as likely to suffer a respiratory condition than children residing in warmer homes[3],[4],. The effects on adolescents by contrast appear to be primarily on mental health[6].
Whilst the evidence indicates that living in a warm home can lead to a lifetime of mental and physical health benefits for families, the research demonstrates how easily these benefits can be jeopardised. Tending to the needs of young children is likely to impact on energy use behaviours in the household, increasing bills and other expenditure. Changes in household composition and size can move households in and out of fuel poverty[7]. Having a baby may act as a ‘trigger point’, pushing households into fuel poverty or exacerbating the situation for households already in fuel poverty. Identifying such ‘trigger points’ may enable us to identify when households need assistance the most, thus supporting advocacy for fuel poverty interventions focusing on young children, and enabling such interventions to be targeted most appropriately. The existing research indicates the crucial need to broaden our currently limited understanding of the coping mechanisms employed by families in fuel poverty and of how specific interventions may be targeted to support families. This is clearly an area in much need of further research, particularly in the light of new and emerging policies (e.g. the new Warm Home Discount scheme and Energy Company Obligation / Green Deal).
[1] DECC (2009) UK Fuel Poverty Strategy: 7th Annual Progress Report 2009, Department of Energy and Climate Change.
[2] NEA (2011) Valuable to the Vulnerable: Consumer Perspectives on the Winter Fuel Payment, Report from a qualitative investigation, National Energy Action.
[3] Liddell, C. and Morris, C. (2010) ‘Fuel Poverty and Human Health: A review of recent evidence’, Energy Policy, 38, pp. 2987–2997.
[4] Liddell, C. (2008) The Impact of Fuel Poverty on Children: Policy Briefing, University of Ulster and Save the Children.
[5] Barnes, M., Butt, S. and Tomaszewski, W. (2008) The Dynamics of Bad Housing: The impact of bad housing on the living standards of children, National Centre for Social Research (NatCen).
[6] Marmot Review Team (2011) The Health Impacts of Cold Homes and Fuel Poverty, Friends of the Earth and the Marmot Review Team.
[7] NEA (2005) Fuel Poverty Churn – Patterns and Implications, a Report for DEFRA, National Energy Action.