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The American Energy Consumer







Table 5-2.Household Characteristics by Income, 1973 (percent of households)
Household characteristics Poor Lower middle Upper middle Well off
All households 100 100 100 100
Life cycle
Head less than 45 33 41 56 48
With children 26 28 47 39
Without children 7 13 9 8
45 to 64 21 34 38 47
65 and over 45 25 6 5
Persons in household
1 37 21 4 1
2 19 36 22 22
3 14 17 20 21
4 9 14 29 26
5 or more 21 12 26 29
Household structure
Husband/wife 41 66 90 93
Other 59 34 10 7
Number of earners
None 56 25 3 2
1 33 53 47 42
2 or more 11 23 51 56
College educated household head 12 25 38 58
Head prof. or mgr. 7 20 34 56
Own home 47 62 76 89
Own other property 7 17 23 31
Head black 23 8 5 3
Source: Washington Center for Metropolitan Studies' Lifestyles and Energy Surveys.

Blacks are found disproportionately among the poor and disproportionately absent among the upper middle and well off groups.

Footnotes

Footnote :

a The U.S. government's definition was modified for use with survey data for which income is reported within a particular range rather than a specific figure. The poverty thresholds are as follows: under $3,000 for one or two people; under $5,000 for three to four people; under $7,000 for five to six people; and under $9,000 for families of seven or more. See Appendix A2 for detail.

Footnote :

b The poor, lower middle, upper middle, and well off are 18, 42, 19, and 20 percent, respectively, of all households.

HEATING HOMES

Keeping warm in the winter takes the most residential energy, and the poor use less energy for this purpose than other income groups do. This is true whether the space heating fuel is natural gas, electricity, or fuel oil. The difference between the well off and the poor is more marked with electric space heating than with natural gas. The well off use 40 percent more energy than the poor when heating with natural gas, and 100 percent more energy than the poor when heating with electricity (Table 5-3).

The WCMS comparison between income groups on the amount of fuel oil used is more indirect. The comparison is between those who spend less than $200 per year for fuel oil and those who spend more. About half the poor