The switch can be abolished from a payment gap of two monthly consumption. However, the energy suppliers strive for solutions for this. In any case, poverty in Austria has increased in recent years.
Families with newborns who can no longer heat the bottles due to a power exclusion; A pensioner who can no longer cool medication for her son who needs care in the twisted fridge – shocking fate like this. Since the end of the electricity price brake at the end of 2024, questions in the social counseling centers of Caritas Upper Austria have increased – the “Krone” reported.
Switching off is only the last remedy
Disabling the electricity is only the largest means in the case of payment arrears. But it happens: the largest energy supplier of Upper Austria, energy AG, arranges around 550 shutdowns per month. The cold winter months are excluded because: “We have converted voluntary reciprocity during the heating season for several years,” says it.
The energy flow can be taken out of a shortage of two monthly consumption. Linz AG also remembers the electricity and heating in the winter. Both energy suppliers emphasize that you are trying to find individual solutions with customers, for example through advice, installments or expansion of payment periods.
More than one in ten is considered the risk of poverty
In any case, poverty has increased again in recent years. According to Statistics Austria, about 336,000 people lived in absolute poverty in Austria last year – 3.7 percent of the population. In 2023 there were just as many, in 2022 the share was 2.3 percent, one year before 1.8 percent.
Anyone who has less than 60 percent of the income in the middle of family is considered a risk of poverty. In the past year this has increased nationally to 14.3 percent. In Bovenste Austria it was 12.8 percent – the results of the federal state, however, have a high fluctuation width.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
