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The American Energy Consumer
Table 5-24.Btu Index (Electricity,
Natural Gas and Gasoline) by Household Characteristics and Income,
1972-1973 (Poor households = 100)
| Characteristic |
Poor |
Lower middle |
Upper middle |
Well off |
| All households |
100 |
142 |
194 |
230 |
| Age of household head |
|
|
|
|
| Head under 45 |
100 |
152 |
186 |
215 |
| 45-64 |
100 |
118 |
160 |
196 |
| 65 and over |
100 |
126 |
|
|
| Household structure |
|
|
|
|
| Husband-wife |
100 |
128 |
164 |
192 |
| Other |
100 |
128 |
168 |
|
| Employment status of
household head |
|
|
|
|
| Not employed |
100 |
123 |
|
|
| Employed |
100 |
137 |
173 |
205 |
| Wife not employed |
100 |
120 |
158 |
184 |
| One earner |
100 |
138 |
181 |
217 |
| Head fore., crafts.,
oper. |
100 |
92 |
119 |
127 |
| Education of household
head |
|
|
|
|
| High school or less |
100 |
141 |
202 |
237 |
| College |
100 |
130 |
163 |
201 |
| Tenancy |
|
|
|
|
| Own |
100 |
141 |
181 |
210 |
| Rent |
100 |
124 |
195 |
186 |
| Note: The Btu data
on which this table is based represent the average per household
using the fuel for natural gas and the average per household
(regardless of whether the fuel is used) for electricity and
gasoline. This was done because, generally speaking, there are no
substitutes for electricity and gasoline, and the household not
using these fuels is probably doing without. |
| Source: Washington
Center for Metropolitan Studies' Lifestyles and Energy
Surveys. |
100 percent for fuel oil. Food prices rose 49 percent. Overall,
the Consumer Price Index rose 34 percent.
Price
increases have fallen most heavily on the poor, who have no money
to spare. They have no "discretionary income" as the economists
call it—money they can either spend or save for extras.
Only about
one-fifth of all households use fuel oil for heating. Fuel oil use
is concentrated geographically, however. It is especially prevalent
in the North, where winters are most severe. The extraordinarily
sharp rise in fuel oil prices—100 percent in five
years—must have worked a special hardship on the