Energy poverty can be pronounced in a cost-of-living crisis, especially when combined with housing-cost pressure for renters. In Australia, energy poverty has been a persistent problem for over a decade, especially for renters. This paper uses four different Australian household surveys covering 2012–2024 to decompose energy poverty gaps between housing renters and non-renters. We find that the capacity to make investments explains up to 45 % of the difference in difficulty paying bills between renters and non-renters. Assets explain approximately a third of the renter-homeowner difference and are substantially more important than income. Renters being less likely to have solar panels explains a small proportion of the gap for bill-paying difficulty. These three results imply three different foci beyond past policies. Governments can use more investment support to complement income support, means testing can focus more on assets rather than income, and policies can support bundles of investments and not just one aspect such as solar panels.

中文翻译：

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租房者持续的能源贫困推动了政策改革

能源贫困在生活成本危机中可能很明显，尤其是当与租房者的住房成本压力相结合时。在澳大利亚，能源匮乏十多年来一直是一个持续存在的问题，尤其是对租房者而言。本文使用 2012 年至 2024 年的四种不同的澳大利亚家庭调查来分解住房租房者和非租房者之间的能源贫困差距。我们发现，投资能力可以解释租房者和非租房者之间支付账单难度差异高达 45%。资产解释了租房者与房主差异的大约三分之一，并且比收入重要得多。租房者不太可能拥有太阳能电池板，这解释了支付账单困难的一小部分差距。这三个结果意味着超越过去政策的三个不同重点。政府可以使用更多的投资支持来补充收入支持，这意味着测试可以更多地关注资产而不是收入，并且政策可以支持捆绑投资，而不仅仅是太阳能电池板等一个方面。