Rising energy costs hit the elderly hard–so says CRS
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Impact of Rising Energy Costs on Older Americans
March 04, 2008
Energy-relatedexpenditures include spending for utilities and fuel to operate, heat,and cool homes and spending for gasoline and motor oil for privatetransportation. Energy prices to consumers have increased 70% between2000 and 2007, driven largely by growth in prices for energycommodities such as petroleum. Petroleum-based products such as fueloil, propane and gasoline comprise about 50% of household energyexpenditures. Older Americans are disproportionately affected by higherenergy costs. As a share of income, households headed by a person age65 or older spend more on energy-related expenditures than theiryounger counterparts. In addition, low-income households (those withless than $15,000 in household income) spent nearly 20% of theirhousehold income on energy-related expenditures in 2006 (the latestyear for which data are available). This compares to 7.3% spent byolder households with incomes above $15,000. These estimates are for2006 and do not reflect the additional 17% increase in energy pricesthat occurred in 2007. The key public program that provides energyassistance to low-income households is the Low-Income Home EnergyAssistance Program (LIHEAP). Approximately 40% of low-income householdsthat were eligible for LIHEAP have a household member aged 60 or older.Funding for the LIHEAP Program has not kept pace with recent increasesin energy costs of older Americans. This report will explore the burdenof rising energy costs on older Americans and discuss implications forpublic policies. This report will be updated when new data is released.
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