Comment on More than 40% of private renters ration energy use to afford bills, study finds
MouldyCat@feddit.uk 2 days ago
this is a really weird headline, with the use of “ration” like that.
Who doesn’t “ration” i.e. restrict their energy use? i have always done this - I turn off lights in rooms when no one is in there, I turn off heating when I’m out of the house, I don’t turn heating on until it’s really cold and I’m maxed out on jumpers and woolly underpants. It’s not just to save money - aren’t we all supposed to be restricting our energy use, what with climate change and all that?
So the article isn’t really about people having to restrict their energy use when before they didn’t, it’s really about a survey done by Citizens Advice to highlight the hardships renters endure thanks to poorly maintained and insulated houses. It seems that Citizens Advice were the ones who chose the word “ration” and to put the focus on people reducing their energy use to save money, but I don’t understand what makes them think that will make their survey results more powerful.
Something straightforward like, “Latest price hikes unfairly hit poor people in badly maintained rental housing” would seem to me to be much better.