medusa allows to calculate different energy poverty
indices for a time series (2006-2021). The indicators covered by medusa
have been commonly used in the literature to measure energy poverty
during the last decades and can be useful to assess the dimension of
energy poverty, as well as to monitor policies aimed at alleviating this
problem.
10% indicator. The household is energy poor if it spends more than 10% of its expenditure on meeting its energy needs. Energy expenditure is understood as domestic energy.
Double the national median (2M). A household is considered to be at risk of energy poverty if the proportion of expenditure it allocates to domestic energy is more than twice the national median. That is, they are households that, due to their socioeconomic situation, have to make a disproportionate expenditure to maintain an energy consumption appropriate to their needs.
Low-income, high-cost (LIHC) metric. A household is considered to be energy poor if its total income is below the poverty threshold (60% of the median income of the population) after subtracting energy expenditure and its energy expenditure is above the median expenditure of the population as a whole.
Hidden energy poverty (HEP). A household is considered to be energy poor if its energy expenditure is less than half of the national median energy expenditure. In other words, these are households whose socioeconomic situation does not allow them to consume energy adequately for their needs.
Hidden energy poverty and low income (HEP_LI): A household is considered to be energy poor if its energy expenditure is less than half of the national median energy expenditure and if its total income is below the poverty threshold (60% of the median income of the population) after subtracting energy expenditure. That is, these are households whose socioeconomic situation (since they are above the national poverty threshold) does not allow them to consume energy adequately for their needs