Unveiling underconsumption of water and electricity services at the bottom of the income distribution

C. Teotónio, Rita Martins, Micaela Antunes and C. Quintal

Utilities Policy, 2023, vol. 82, issue C

Abstract: Access to water and energy services crucially depends on these services' affordability, which is commonly assessed by computing the burden of actual utilities' expenditures in relation to households’ income and then comparing it to a reference threshold. However, this monetary indicator overlooks quantities consumed. We estimate quantities underlying expenditures on water and electricity, combining this information with the burden approach, with special emphasis on low-income households. Results reveal situations of households whose affordability ratios are low but with underconsumption signs (hidden unaffordability) and families that despite having high ratios, still suffer from underconsumption. Problems are more acute for the poorest families.

Keywords: Water and electricity (micro)affordability; Portuguese household budget survey; Underconsumption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095717872300084X
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:juipol:v:82:y:2023:i:c:s095717872300084x

DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2023.101572

Access Statistics for this article

Utilities Policy is currently edited by Beecher, Janice

More articles in Utilities Policy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().