Home is Where the Heat is: Energy Vulnerability and Forced Mobility

Call it what you will, predicament or process, the vulnerability or insecurity created by energy burden can quickly drive a household into crisis. Though crisis itself may come and go, its effects can be long lasting and pernicious. The effects of high energy burdens on a household’s physical and mental health have been well documented. For example, the issue of mental stress swirls around fears of not being able to pay bills, and asthma and respiratory problems can result from thermal discomfort.  But the housing and economic consequences may be less understood. This essay seeks to understand the relationship between high energy burdens and the displacement of people from their homes, (sometimes referred to as forced mobility or involuntary displacement) and the subsequent poverty that ensues.