Nursery World - Children in poverty will bear the brunt of rising energy bills

Rising energy bills will push the poorest families even deeper into poverty, according to an analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

The energy price cap rise in April will hit families in 'very deep poverty' the most PHOTO Adobe Stock

Households on low incomes will be spending on average 18 per cent of their income after housing costs on energy bills after April.

The analysis compares the household spend on gas and electricity bills of several different family types on low and middle incomes between 2019-20 and after the increase in April this year, when the energy price cap is expected to rise by over 40 per cent. (See chart).

The findings also highlight large numbers of children living on low incomes for prolonged periods of time in the years running up to the pandemic. Around 1 in 5 children have lived on a low income for at least three of the four years between 2016 and 2019.

For children in lone parent families this rises to around one in three children. For many young children, this persistence of poverty means going without essentials is all they have ever known or can remember.

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