Policy in hard times: How individuals’ energy insecurity shape energy, climate, and social policy preferences

In an era of prolonged economic stagnation and global shocks, a central question is how individuals’ material conditions shape support for policy interventions and goals. In recent years, energy insecurity, the inability to easily meet the costs of household energy, has emerged as a key factor in explaining declining household living standards and difficulties meeting the costs of living. This paper examines how energy insecurity affects policy preferences in the context of the UK’s recent energy crisis. Utilising an original survey fielded in the United Kingdom in August 2022, the paper examines how energy insecurity shapes preferences for compensation- and investment-based policy preferences for energy, climate, and social policy. The results show that support for energy, climate, and social policy depends on individuals’ energy insecurity. Additionally, while compensatory and investment based policies see similar levels of support in terms of energy policy, there is differentiation in the other policy areas. Energy insecure individuals significantly prioritise investment-based climate policy and compensation-based social policy. These results hold even after adjusting for general concerns about the cost of living. The findings help us understand how policy preferences are sensitive to changing economic conditions, and the impact of the energy crisis on a broader set of policy preferences. • Energy insecurity raises support for compensation and investment energy policies. • Energy insecure citizens favour investment climate and compensation social policies. • Expected, not past, energy insecurity is the strongest predictor of policy support. • August 2022 UK survey links household energy insecurity to multi-domain policy views. • Energy shocks spill over; insecurity shapes climate and social policy preferences.