A multidimensional index to measure energy poverty: the Polish case

Figures & data

Table 1. Single dimensions of energy poverty.

Indicator	Abbreviation	Household is deprived if:
Low income, high costs	LIHC	Household has high required energy costs (above the national median level) and low income. The required energy costs are the expenditures needed to meet the energy needs given the household’s characteristics. Household has low income if its income is below the 30th percentile of equivalent income,^2 and is below 60% of the median equivalent income less housing costs n population.
High share of energy expenditure in income	High actual costs	Household spends a high share of its income on actual energy costs (more than twice the national median level “2M”).
Inability to keep the home adequately warm	Not warm enough	Household members report that the dwelling is not warm enough in the winter.
Presence of leaks, damp, or rot	Housing faults	Household members live in a dwelling with a leaking roof; damp walls, floors, or foundations; or rot in the window frames or floors.
Inability to pay utility bills	Bills difficulties	Household members experience problems paying their utility bills on time.

Note: A detailed description of the construction of the indicators is presented in the appendix.

Source: Own elaboration.

Table 2. Cross-correlations and redundancy measures (%) of single dimensions of energy poverty in Poland.

	Low income, high costs	High actual costs	Not warm enough	Housing faults	Bills difficulties
	Cross-correlations
Low income, high costs	1.00
High actual costs	0.18	1.00
Not warm enough	0.03	0.05	1.00
Housing faults	0.03	0.05	0.30	1.00
Bills difficulties	0.05	0.06	0.09	0.13	1.00
	Redundancy analysis (%)
Low income, high costs	n/a	40.2	12.0	13.2	19.9
High actual costs		n/a	24.9	25.6	34.0
Not warm enough			n/a	40.4	27.4
Housing faults				n/a	28.5
Bills difficulties					n/a

Note: the redundancy measure between a pair of indicators is defined as the number of households which experience deprivation according to both indicators, as a proportion of the minimal number of households which experience deprivation to either indicator (Alkire et al. 2015).

Source: Own calculations based on the Household Budget Survey data, 2017.

Table 3. Coincidence of single dimensions of energy poverty.

Number of dimensions	Frequency (thousands of households)	Cumulative frequency (thousands of households)	Percentage of households	Cumulative percentage
5	2	2	0.0	0.0
4	42	44	0.3	0.3
3	224	268	1.7	2.0
2	1064	1332	7.8	9.8
1	3257	4589	24.0	33.8
0	8983	13572	66.2	100.0

Source: Own calculations based on the Household Budget Survey data, 2017.

Figure 1. Energy poverty rate according to the multi-dimensional and single indicators (percent of households, with standard errors).

Table 4. Energy-poor households, by dimensions of the poverty.

Dimensions of the energy poverty
Low income, high costs	High actual costs	Not warm enough	Housing faults	Bills difficulties	Number of households (thousands)	Share among energy-poor (%)
*	*				418	31.4
		*	*		211	15.8
	*	*			152	11.4
	*		*		96	7.2
	*	*	*		74	5.6
*		*			54	4.1
	*			*	45	3.4
*			*		38	2.9
*	*	*			32	2.4
		*	*	*	26	1.9
*	*		*		24	1.8
*		*	*		23	1.7
*	*	*	*		20	1.5
*	*			*	18	1.4
		*		*	17	1.3
			*	*	17	1.3
*				*	15	1.1
	*	*	*	*	11	0.8
	*		*	*	10	0.7
*		*	*	*	8	0.6
	*	*		*	8	0.6
*			*	*	6	0.4
*		*		*	4	0.3
*	*	*	*	*	2	0.2
*	*	*		*	2	0.1
*	*		*	*	2	0.1
					1332	100.0

Note: * indicates the occurrence of a specific energy poverty dimension.

Source: Own calculations based on the Household Budget Survey data, 2017.

Figure 2. Equivalised income of households – overall and for energy-poor households (multi-dimensionally and according to single indicators).

Figure 3. Income poverty among energy-poor households (multi-dimensionally and according to single indicators).

Figure 4. Multidimensional energy poverty index and single dimensions of energy poverty, by main source of household income (percent of households).

Figure 5. Multidimensional energy poverty index and single dimensions of energy poverty (percent of households), by type of building.

Figure 6. Multidimensional energy poverty index and single dimensions of energy poverty (percent of households), by year of construction and type of building.

Table 5. Energy-poor households, by dimensions of the form of poverty.

	Energy-poor households		Energy- and income-poor households		All households
Main source of income	Number of households (thousands)	Share among energy-poor (%)	Number of households (thousands)	Share among energy-poor (%)	Number of households (thousands)	Share among all households (%)
Blue-collar workers	309	23.2%	95	7.1%	3,428	25.3%
White-collar workers	137	10.3%	51	3.8%	3,651	26.9%
Farmers	104	7.8%	86	6.5%	567	4.2%
Self-employed	48	3.6%	22	1.7%	951	7.0%
Retirees and pensioners	593	44.5%	340	25.5%	4,522	33.3%
Recipients of other non-earned income sources	140	10.5%	110	8.3%	452	3.3%
Total	1 332	100%	704	52.9%	13,571	100%

Source: Own calculations based on the Household Budget Survey data, 2017.

Table 6. Structure of energy-poor households, by type of building and year of construction (thousands of households).

		Energy-poor households		All households
Type of building	Year of building construction	Number of households	% among energy-poor	Number of households	% among all
Multifamily	Before 1946	317	24%	1,449	11%
	1946–1960	77	6%	720	5%
	1961–1980	169	13%	2,897	21%
	1981–1995	73	5%	1,407	10%
	1996–2006	19	1%	437	3%
	After 2007	10	1%	493	4%
	All	665	50%	7,404	55%
Detached	Before 1946	194	15%	1 025	8%
	1946–1960	124	9%	892	7%
	1961–1980	207	16%	1,938	14%
	1981–1995	104	8%	1,240	9%
	1996–2006	25	2%	620	5%
	After 2007	13	1%	452	3%
	All	667	50%	6,167	45%
Total		1 332	100%	13,571	100%

Source: Own calculations based on the Household Budget Survey data, 2017.

Figure 7. Multidimensional energy poverty index and single dimensions of energy poverty (percent of households), by size of place of residence.

Table 7. Structure of energy-poor households by size of place of residence (thousands of households).

	Energy-poor households		All households
Size of place of residence	Number of households	% among energy-poor	Number of households	% among all
Big city	364	27%	4,593	34%
Medium city	226	17%	2,762	20%
Small city	176	13%	1,793	13%
Rural areas	566	43%	4,423	33%
Total	1 332	100%	13.571	100%

Source: Own calculations based on the Household Budget Survey data, 2017.

Map 1. Multidimensional energy poverty rate by NUTS2 regions in Poland (percent of households).

Map 2. The distribution of the multidimensional energy poverty rate by NUTS2 regions in Poland (thousands of households).

Table 8. The headcount, adjusted headcount, and deprivation intensity, by main source of income⁸

	Headcount (H)	Adjusted headcount ratio (M0)	Deprivation intensity (A)
All households	0.098	0.220	2.24
Blue-collar workers	0.090	0.200	2.22
White-collar workers	0.038	0.082	2.17
Farmers	0.183	0.385	2.11
Self-employed	0.052	0.113	2.15
Retirees and pensioners	0.131	0.295	2.25
Recipients of other non-earned income sources	0.311	0.746	2.40

Source: Own calculations based on the Household Budget Survey data, 2017.

Alkire, S., J. E. Foster, S. Seth, M. E. Santos, J. M. Roche, and P. Ballon. 2015. Multidimensional poverty measurement and analysis, ch. 2 and 7. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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