“Why the power bill is not paid”
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Poverty is only one of many explanations as to why around 350,000 German households have their electricity cut off every year because they did not pay their bills, reports Andreas Mihm in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. An as-yet unpublished study for the economics ministry shows that only one in two of the affected households depend on state benefits. “The problem of power cuts cannot be reduced to income poverty,” the article cites from the study, which says sudden life changes such as the transition to retirement, an illness, or the birth of a child, are also important reasons behind the power cuts.
For background, read the CLEW article Welfare groups urge power cost relief for German poor.
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