These People Suffer Especially from the Heat
In a survey, over 8,000 people were asked about their perception of heat stress. The proportion of those who feel very strongly affected by heat has risen from about 13 to 18 percent since 2019. 51 percent of respondents with low incomes felt heavily burdened, compared to 46 percent of those with medium incomes and 42.3 percent with high incomes.
Young People and Women Suffer More from Heat
The subjective burden during a heatwave also varies depending on gender, age, and living situation. Looking at age, respondents under 30 in all income brackets complained the most about the strain from high temperatures. Nearly 62 percent of people under 30 with low household income felt very or rather heavily burdened. This was about eleven percentage points above the average for this income group (51 percent). The perceived burden decreased with age. Among those with low household income over the years, only 45.6 percent reported being very or heavily affected.
Alexandra Wegscheider-Pichler, study author at Statistics Austria, emphasized on Tuesday that the survey reflects the subjective perception of the burden, not the risk posed by high temperatures. Therefore, it cannot be said that older people do not have problems with heat. "In general, the data shows that younger people tend to live more frequently in densely populated areas than older people, but this only explains part of the higher reported heat burden among younger people."
There were also differences in perceived burden by gender: Women in all income groups reported a stronger burden from high temperatures than men. The most affected were women with low incomes at 54.5 percent, while it was 45.4 percent for men in this income group. As household income increased, the burden significantly decreased for both women and men.
Heat: Differences by Living Situation
The living situation also plays a role in the perceived heat stress: Those who live in a single-family house in a green area tend to suffer less from high temperatures than people living in multi-family houses in the city. The more housing units a building has, the greater the perceived burden. In buildings with 20 or more apartments, people with middle incomes feel the most burdened at 62.6 percent. In all other types of buildings, people with low household incomes are most affected. Additionally, people in rental apartments report a significantly above-average heat burden: Among them, depending on income, it is 52.2 to 55.5 percent. Among owners of condominiums, only 40 percent reported this.
The heat burden also increases with the size of the community. In cities with more than 20,000 inhabitants, 56.4 percent of respondents with low incomes said they are very or rather heavily burdened. Among those with high incomes, the proportion was only 35 percent. In Vienna - the city was listed separately - the burden was equally high across all income groups, while in small communities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants, it was equally low.
AK Demands Social Justice in Climate Protection
The psychological and physical burden of heat is becoming an increasing problem for the population, said Matthias Schnetzer, head of the Department of Economics and Statistics at AK Vienna, on Tuesday. "This is where the inequality debate begins. Because not all people contribute to the climate crisis to the same extent. And not all people are equally affected by the consequences of the climate crisis."
Because people with lower incomes are particularly burdened by heatwaves, while those with the highest incomes cause more greenhouse gases, AK Vienna demanded social justice in climate protection. Public investments are needed for the expansion and conversion of climate-friendly infrastructure, socially balanced political measures such as a "socially just CO2 pricing," and protection of workers during extreme weather. Additionally, AK Vienna called for a contribution from the wealthiest to the financing.
(APA/Red)
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