Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, Belgium.
Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, Belgium.
J Environ Manage. 2018 Jul 1;217:611-620. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.03.106. Epub 2018 Apr 9.
In developed countries, water affordability problems remain up on the agenda as the increasing financial costs of water services can impede the realisation of an equal access to water. More than ever, public authorities that define water tariffs face the challenge of reconciling environmental and cost recovery objectives with equity and financial accessibility for all. Indicators of water affordability can be helpful in this regard. Conventional affordability indicators often rely on the actual amount that households spend on water use. In contrast, we propose a needs-based indicator that measures the risk of being unable to afford the amount of water necessary to fulfill essential needs, i.e. needs that should be fulfilled for adequate participation in society. In this paper we set forth the methodological choices inherent to constructing a needs-based affordability indicator. Using a micro-dataset on households in Flanders (Belgium), we compare its results with the outcomes of a more common actual expenses-indicator. The paper illustrates how the constructed needs-based indicator can complement existing affordability indicators, and its capacity to reveal important risk groups.
在发达国家，水价承受能力问题仍然是一个重要议题，因为水服务的不断增加的财务成本可能会阻碍实现平等获得水的目标。公共当局在制定水价时，需要面对的挑战是协调环境和成本回收目标与公平性以及所有人的财务可负担性之间的关系。水价承受能力指标在这方面可能会有所帮助。传统的承受能力指标通常依赖于家庭在水费上的实际支出。相比之下，我们提出了一个基于需求的指标，该指标衡量的是无法负担满足基本需求所需水量的风险，即为了充分参与社会而应满足的需求。本文阐述了构建基于需求的承受能力指标所涉及的方法选择。我们使用了关于佛兰德（比利时）家庭的微观数据集，将其结果与更为常见的实际支出指标进行了比较。本文说明了构建的基于需求的指标如何补充现有的承受能力指标，并展示了其揭示重要风险群体的能力。
