High energy bills are causing real financial hardship and escalating the UK’s fuel poverty crisis. A quarter of households now have to spend more than 10 per cent of their income on heating. This means more than one million families with children under 16 are struggling to keep warm this winter. Some families have to choose between buying proper food and keeping warm.
We know that children’s health can be badly affected by inadequately heated homes. They are more than twice as likely as children living in warm homes to suffer from a variety of respiratory problems. More than one in four adolescents living in cold housing are at risk of multiple mental health problems – the figure is one in 20 of those who have always lived in warm housing. Cold housing also negatively affects how children perform at school and their emotional wellbeing.
The National Children’s Bureau is teaming up with a broad alliance of children’s charities, environmental organisations and a growing number of businesses to call on government to help bring families out of fuel poverty. This could be achieved by recycling the revenue from carbon taxes to make their homes energy efficient, through measures like insulation, double glazing and replacing old boilers.
We are recruiting young people aged 13 to 17 to train as media spokespeople to campaign for warmer homes, lower fuel bills and better energy efficiency for children and their families. To get involved contact rmonaghan@ncb.org.uk or call 020 7843 6304.
Rachel Monaghan, senior development officer for health and wellbeing, NCB
