The affordability of household transport costs: quantifying the incidence of car-related economic stress in Great Britain

There is increasing concern for the affordability of daily mobility costs, notably by car. In this paper, we use the term ‘car-related economic stress’ (CRES) to refer to households spending a disproportionate amount of money on car travel. We propose two indicators to investigate CRES in Great Britain, both of which are based on widely available, continuous surveys. First, a 'Low-Income-High-Costs' metric, inspired by the UK government indicator of fuel poverty, and applied to the Living Costs and Food Survey. We complement this with the analysis of a material deprivation-based measure of CRES, based on the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions. Our analysis suggests that, in 2012, CRES affected between 6.7% and 9% of households in Great Britain, corresponding to between 1.7 and 2.3 million households. Low population density and difficult access to public transport are associated with a higher risk of CRES. In terms of social profile, households at risk of CRES are not so different from the average of the population, but are clearly distinct from low income households with low motoring costs and from households who cannot afford cars. Our analysis identifies a number of socio-economic factors (household size, presence of children, underemployment, disability) which may increase the ratio between car travel needs and household income, thus increasing the risk of economic stress.