Millions of children at risk of energy poverty in the UK (study)

Two studies published Thursday said energy poverty will cause a “humanitarian crisis” that will affect millions of children in the UK, where a three million increase in the cost of living could push people into extreme poverty.

A report by the Institute for Health Equity (IHE), a think-tank on inequality, warned that British children are exposed to health, social and educational risks, from unheated homes to increasing pressure on families to make ends meet.

This will mean that “thousands of people will die sooner than they should, and in addition to lung damage in children (in cold homes), toxic stress can permanently affect their brain development,” its director Michael Marmot summarized in a statement. .

Without government intervention, the institute fears a “major humanitarian crisis” will occur in the country, which would plunge more than half of British households into energy poverty by January.

Regulated energy tariffs are set to rise 80% from October in the UK and inflation is expected to reach 13% by the end of the year. Gas and electricity bills may rise even more in 2023.

Real household disposable income, adjusted for inflation, will shrink by a total of 10% over this year and next, the largest decline in living standards in a century, according to Resolution Research.

In another study published on Thursday, the group added that this would mean 3,000 pounds ($3,500) less per year for the average household and “the crisis in living standards will extend beyond this winter into next year and 2024”.

The foundation said the number of people “living in extreme poverty” could rise by three million to 14 million, and tens of billions of pounds in aid for the next government is inevitable.

Susanna Streeter, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said these studies “highlight the growing difficulties in the British economy”, and that the prospect of an “equally bleak winter” pushed the pound to a new low against the dollar on Thursday, approaching a low. Since 1985.

Secretary of State Liz Truss, nominated to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday, backed the tax cuts but not direct aid.

But she stressed Thursday in the pages of the famous newspaper The Sun that if she becomes prime minister, “she will provide immediate support so that people do not face expensive fuel bills.”

ode-acc / mb