cost of living crisis

Nearly 20% of Brits already living in poverty before cost-of-living crisis, report finds

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/nearly-20-of-brits-already-living-in-poverty-before-cost-of-living-crisis

Image of banknotes and prepayment meter key

MILLIONS of people in Britain, including 3.9 million children and 1.7m pensioners, were in living in poverty even before the cost-of-living crisis hit, damning figures revealed today.

Around 20 per cent of the population, equating to 13.4m people, were living in poverty in 2020/21, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s annual poverty report found.

The report warned that there are elements in the benefits system that increase poverty, including the two-child limit, five-week wait for universal credit payments and unaffordable debt deductions.

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About 7.2m people are skipping meals, showers and heating, it found.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/nearly-20-of-brits-already-living-in-poverty-before-cost-of-living-crisis

Continue ReadingNearly 20% of Brits already living in poverty before cost-of-living crisis, report finds

30 million in UK ‘priced out of decent standard of living by 2024’

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Image of cash and pre-payment meter key
Image of cash and pre-payment meter key

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/dec/12/30-million-in-uk-priced-out-of-decent-standard-of-living-by-2024

Thirty million people in the UK will be unable to afford what the public considers to be a decent standard of living by the time the current parliament ends in 2024, according to a study.

The New Economics Foundation, a left-leaning thinktank, said rising prices, below-inflation increases in earnings and projected increases in unemployment would result in 43% of households lacking the resources to put food on the table, buy new clothes or treat themselves and their families – a 12 percentage point rise compared with 2019.

The NEF said its calculation that by 2024 almost 90% of single parents and 50% of workers with children would fall below a minimum income standard showed the need for a radical overhaul of the welfare system.

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Continue Reading30 million in UK ‘priced out of decent standard of living by 2024’

Pre-payment meters are forcing people to live in cold and damp homes, research reveals

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Image of cash and pre-payment meter key
Image of cash and pre-payment meter key

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/pre-payment-meters-are-forcing-people-live-cold-damp-homes-research-reveals

PRE-PAYMENT meters are forcing people to live in cold and damp homes, more than half of whom have poor health or disabilities, research by campaigners revealed today.

Some 64 per cent of customers on pre-payment meters are vulnerable, even before the predicted cold snap kicks in and increases energy bills, with 51 per cent having health conditions or disabilities, according to the figures collected by YouGov for the Warm This Winter campaign.

More than 10 per cent of customers on those meters have effectively self-disconnected by massively reducing their energy use.

More than 30 per cent of such customers now live in cold damp homes, more than the national average of 19 per cent.

Among the people on pre-payment meters and classified as vulnerable, 14 per cent are disconnecting and 36 per cent now living in a cold, damp home.

Publication of the research coincides with recent reports revealing that energy firms have secured almost 500,000 court warrants to instal pre-payment meters in the homes of customers in debt since the end of the coronavirus lockdown.

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Continue ReadingPre-payment meters are forcing people to live in cold and damp homes, research reveals

Green Party members vote to strongly endorse and affiliate to Enough is Enough

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Green Party members vote to strongly endorse and affiliate to Enough is Enough

Enough is Enough is a mass movement resisting the cost of living crisis. It was launched earlier this year, and has grown rapidly. Over 500,000 people signed up to the campaign by the end of August and the group has held packed out rallies in cities across the country. On October 1, Enough is Enough held protests and actions in solidarity with striking workers in 50 towns and cities.

Enough is Enough has a set of five demands – delivering a real pay rise for workers, slashing energy bills, ending food poverty, ensuring decent homes for all, and taxing the rich. Recent polling from Survation found the group’s demands are popular with the public. Survation found 84 per cent support capping energy bills, 76 per cent support pay rising with inflation, and 72 per cent support increasing taxes on the rich.

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Continue ReadingGreen Party members vote to strongly endorse and affiliate to Enough is Enough

Second day of protests against soaring energy prices and climate crisis

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Photo source: Just Stop Oil

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/government-london-waterloo-bridge-euston-waterloo-b1029669.html

Activists have taken part in a second day of protests to demand the Government end the cost-of-living and climate crisis by stopping new oil and gas.

The Just Stop Oil (JSO) group said that 250 of its supporters held marches through central London on Sunday where they disrupted traffic in shopping districts and tourist hubs before carrying out a sit-down protest on Waterloo Bridge.

A JSO spokesman said: “We will continue in civil resistance until this government takes immediate steps to meet our demand to end the cost-of-living and climate crisis by stopping new oil and gas.

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Continue ReadingSecond day of protests against soaring energy prices and climate crisis