WATER, energy, TV licence and Council Tax bills went through the roof yesterday, with Citizens Advice warning that the finances of millions of people on the lowest incomes are ‘already stretched to breaking point’.
Single parents in particular will struggle because most of their money is taken up by essential spending, the charity said.
Household water bills went up 6.4%, or £10 per month on average, the energy bill for an average household also went up around £10 a month, increasing by £111 a year to £1,849, council tax bills went up between 4.99% and 9.5%.
‘After years of cost-of-living pressures, households across the country are about to feel the extra shock of rising essential bills,’ said Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice.
‘For those on the lowest incomes, these unavoidable costs are already eating away at their finances, leaving their budgets stretched beyond breaking point.’
The charity said households in the lowest 10% for income are already spending around two fifths (41%) of their earnings – after housing – on water, energy, broadband and car insurance bills.
That is a considerably bigger proportion than those on higher incomes, with 11% being spent by those on ‘middle incomes’ and those in the top 10% income bracket spending just 5%.
Single-adult households, and particularly those with children, are more likely than others to be spending 20% or more of their post-housing income on these bills, leaving them more exposed to price shocks.
Professor Ashwin Kumar, of the IPPR (Institute for Public Policy Research), said: ‘Essential bills are leaving lowest earners with little room to breathe and causing huge anxieties.’
Unite Community union members protested against mass poverty in 40 locations across the UK yesterday, with further protests planned over the next two weeks.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘It’s time to end the chaos in our energy network, which allows profiteers to flourish while workers and communities are left in the cold.
‘No one should ever have to choose between heating and eating. We believe it is time for public ownership and for fuel poverty to be consigned to the dustbin of history.’
‘Energy regulator Ofgem has totally failed to regulate our nation’s energy market. The latest 6.4 per cent rise adds £111 to the energy price cap, a cap that climbs ever higher while Unite members struggle with ever increasing energy costs.’
• See editorial page 6
