Page 5 - IDEA Studie 13 2022 Narust cen energii

Study 13/2022 Rising Energy Prices and the Increase in Housing Benefits: Did it Help?2 SEPTEMBER 2022 FILIP PERTOLD, PETR PLETICHA Summary • This study analyzes the effects of changes in the housing benefits policy in Czechia. In response to the surge in energy prices, the Czech government increased the maximum contributions for eligible households. Although the number of households drawing the contribution rose, their share among all eligible households dropped. • Increasing the maximum contribution by itself does not increase the number of eligible households. The rising number of eligibile households is caused mainly by the hike in energy prices. • Increasing the maximum contribution did not compensate for the surge in housing costs. For instance, households whose housing costs as a share of their net income had increased by 15 percentage points were not able to offset even a fifth of the cost increase. • Although the increased maximum contribution makes the housing benefit more attractive, the amount of the actual contribution is often so small that households do not bother applying for it. Apart from the small contribution, the considerable administrative demands also likely discourage many households from applying. Households are aware of the housing benefit policy, but they are misinformed and often deem themselves ineligible when in fact they are eligible. 2 This study represents the authors’ own views and not the official position of the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences nor of the Charles University Centre for Economic Research and Graduate Education (CERGE). The authors are grateful to Daniel Münich, Daniel Prokop and Michal Šoltés for their valuable comments and advice. Any remaining ambiguities or errors are the responsibility of the authors. The study was produced with support from the Czech Academy of Sciences as part of its AV21 Strategy programme: Society in Motion and Public Policies. The authors acknowledge the close cooperation with PAQ Research in the use of Život během pandemie research data, the collection of which was supported, among others, by the CAS as part of its AV21 Strategy programme: Society in Motion and Public Policies. This work was financed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic in grant projects SHARE-CZ and SHARE-CZ+. 3