Higher total energy costs strain the elderly, especially low-income, across 31 developed countries.

Addressing the total energy cost burden of elderly people is essential for designing equitable and effective energy policies, especially in responding to energy crisis in an aging society. It is due to the double impact of energy price hikes on households-through direct impact on fuel bills and indirect impact on the prices of goods and services consumed. However, while examining the household energy cost burden of the elderly, their indirect energy consumption and associated cost burden remain poorly understood. This study quantifies and compares the direct and indirect energy footprints and associated total energy cost burdens for different age groups across 31 developed countries. It reveals that the elderly have larger per capita energy footprints, resulting from higher levels of both direct and indirect energy consumption compared with the younger age groups. More importantly, the elderly, especially the low-income elderly, have a higher total energy cost burden rate. As the share of elderly in the total population rapidly grows in these countries, the larger per capita energy footprint and associated cost burden rate of elderly people would make these aging countries more vulnerable in times of energy crises. It is therefore crucial to develop policies that aim to reduce energy consumption and costs, improve energy efficiency, and support low-income elderly populations. Such policies are necessary to reduce the vulnerability of these aging countries to the energy crisis.

The Effects of Social Protection and Social Cohesion on the Acceptability of Climate Change Mitigation Policies: What Do We (Not) Know in the Context of Low- and Middle-Income Countries?

Significant climate change mitigation policies are urgently needed to achieve emissions reduction targets. This paper shows that social protection and social cohesion play a critical role in making climate policies more acceptable to citizens by summarizing existing streams of research focusing on industrialized countries. Further, the empirical analysis explores whether these relationships also hold for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), which are increasingly implementing climate change mitigation policies. The results show that vertical and horizontal trust increase acceptability in all countries. However, preferences for social protection have a positive effect only in industrialized ones. This may suggest a contrast between social and environmental goals in LMICs, where social goals are prioritized. The analysis also revealed a significant interaction between social cohesion and social protection. The paper concludes by discussing the existing research gap as to LMICs and outlines policy options to overcome the conflict between social and environmental goals.

Pour atteindre les objectifs de réduction des émissions, il est urgent de mettre en place d'importantes politiques d'atténuation du changement climatique. Cet article montre que la protection sociale et la cohésion sociale jouent un rôle essentiel pour rendre les politiques climatiques plus acceptables aux yeux des citoyen·ne·s, en faisant un résumé des courants de recherche existants axés sur les pays industrialisés. En outre, l'analyse empirique cherche à savoir si ces relations sont également valables pour les pays à revenu faible et intermédiaire (PRFI), qui mettent en œuvre de plus en plus fréquemment des politiques d'atténuation du changement climatique. Les résultats montrent que la confiance verticale et horizontale augmente l'acceptabilité dans tous les pays. Cependant, les préférences en matière de protection sociale n'ont un effet positif que dans les pays industrialisés. Cela peut suggérer un contraste entre les objectifs sociaux et environnementaux dans les PRFI, où les objectifs sociaux sont prioritaires. L'analyse a également révélé une interaction significative entre la cohésion sociale et la protection sociale. Dans sa conclusion, l'article aborde la question des lacunes qui existent en matière de recherche sur les PRFI et décrit les options, en matière de politiques, pour surmonter l'antagonisme entre objectifs sociaux et objectifs environnementaux.

Disentangling the Relationship Between Social Protection and Social Cohesion: Introduction to the Special Issue.

While there is substantial evidence of the effect of social protection on poverty and vulnerability, limited research has focused on societal outcomes. This paper serves as introduction to a special issue (SI) examining the relationship between social protection and social cohesion in low- and middle-income countries. Over the last years, social cohesion has emerged as a central goal of development policy. The introduction and the papers in the SI use a common definition of social cohesion as a multi-faceted phenomenon, comprising three attributes: cooperation, trust and inclusive identity. This introductory article provides a conceptual framework linking social protection to social cohesion, shows the current empirical evidence for the bi-directional linkages, and highlights how the papers in the SI contribute to filling existing research gaps. In addition to this introduction, the SI encompasses seven papers, covering different world regions and social protection schemes, and using different quantitative and qualitative methods.

Il existe d'importantes données probantes concernant l'effet de la protection sociale sur la pauvreté et la vulnérabilité. Cependant, les études qui se penchent sur les effets au niveau de la société sont peu nombreuses. Cet article fait office d'introduction à un numéro spécial qui étudie la relation entre la protection sociale et la cohésion sociale dans les pays à revenu faible et intermédiaire. Au cours des dernières années, la cohésion sociale est devenue un objectif central de la politique de développement. L'introduction et les articles de ce numéro spécial utilisent une définition commune de la cohésion sociale en tant que phénomène à multiples facettes, comprenant trois attributs: la coopération, la confiance et l'identité inclusive. Cet article introductif fournit un cadre conceptuel reliant la protection sociale à la cohésion sociale, montre les preuves empiriques actuelles des liens bidirectionnels et met en lumière la façon dont les articles de ce numéro spécial contribuent à combler les lacunes de la recherche existante. En plus de cette introduction, le numéro spécial comprend sept articles qui couvrent différentes régions du monde et divers régimes de protection sociale, et font usage de différentes méthodes quantitatives et qualitatives.