The LIHEAP Databook
Highlights from the LIHEAP Databook for FY 2001
For many low-income households, people with disabilities and senior
citizens, home energy costs are unaffordable. Without energy assistance,
many low-income households would have to choose between heating
and other vital necessities such as food, medicine, rent or mortgage.
These families often carry a higher energy burden than most Americans.
From the national perspective:
- In FY 2001, the average household had energy costs of $1,537
and a mean individual energy burden of 7.0 percent of annual income.
Energy burden is the percentage of a household’s annual
income that is used to pay residential energy costs.
- In FY 2001, low-income households -- households with annual
incomes under the LIHEAP income maximum of the greater of 150
percent of the poverty level or 60 percent of state median income
-- had residential energy expenditures of $1,311. While the expenditures
are 17 percent less than the average household, the mean individual
energy burden for low-income households was 14 percent, twice
as much as the burden for the average household.
- In FY 2001, residential energy costs for LIHEAP-recipient households
were $1,301 and the mean individual energy burden was 17.2 percent,
3 percentage points higher than the average low-income household.
- An estimated 4.6 million low-income households received heating
and/or cooling assistance in FY 2001. This is only 15.5 percent
of the more than 29 million income-eligible households.
- Of the households receiving assistance in FY 2001, about 32
percent had at least one member 60 years or older, about 30 percent
included at least one disabled member and about 22 percent included
at least one child five years or younger. LIHEAP is part of the
vital social safety net for low-income households and senior citizens
living on a fixed income.
- In FY 2001, more than half of the LIHEAP recipients had annual
household incomes lower than 150 percent of the federal poverty
level. LIHEAP clearly helps those who are most vulnerable.
From the state perspective, it is clear that many state programs
are chronically underfunded. In many cases, the number of eligible
households far exceeds the number of households the program is able
to assist. It is also evident that states are serving the neediest
first; the vast majority of LIHEAP-recipient households include
elderly, people with disabilities, or young children, and are at
or below 150 percent of the federal poverty standards.
Download the LIHEAP Databook here
[PDF]
Or, click on any state below to see data about the LIHEAP program
in that state.
Data Sources
The primary data sources for this Databook are two reports created
by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration
for Children and Families, Office of Community Services Division
of Energy Assistance: LIHEAP Home Energy Notebook for FY 2001
(published February 2003) and the LIHEAP Report to Congress for
FY 2001 (published August 2003). These reports are published
annually and provide detailed information about the LIHEAP program
and its implementation. Data regarding low-income household residential
energy costs came from Roger Colton’s April 2003 report, Home
Energy Affordability Gap. This report is available online at
http://www.fsconline.com.
The Campaign for Home Energy Assistance intends to update this Databook
annually as federal data sources become available.
Executive
Summary | Highlights | Resources
| Download Databook
|
