Double cost-of-living support for vulnerable families, urges coalition
Joe Lepper
Wednesday, August 17, 2022
Government support to help vulnerable households tackle rising food and energy bills needs to be more than doubled, with priority given to families with children, a coalition of charities and campaigners has warned.
Charities including The Children’s Society, Save the Children and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation have written to Conservative Party leadership candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss urging them to bolster support for the most disadvantaged to meet rising inflation should they become the next Prime Minister.
While the government has already pledged £1,200 in support to vulnerable households this “is no longer sufficient” due to the record rate of inflation and families facing an average £2,800 increase in the cost of living to April next year, say the charities.
“This means that support should be at least doubled,” says their letter, which emphasises that the cost-of-living crisis is now a “national emergency”.
“It should also vary by need, with higher payments for households with higher needs, for instance families with children,” the letter adds.
“Low-income households need urgent reassurance now that they will receive sufficient support to weather the cost-of-living storm as it intensifies further this winter.”
The coalition is particularly concerned that families’ lives will worsen amid further rises in fuel bills after the summer when the cap on energy prices increases.
“When energy bills rocket in the autumn, families who already have it tough are going to find things even harder,” said Save the Children director of UK impact Dan Paskins.
“Parents will face impossible choices over whether to prioritise feeding their children or heating their homes.
“We have signed this letter because the UK government must do more – and fast.
“At the very least, the government should double the emergency support package announced in May to ensure families are shielded from a catastrophic winter.”
Also signing the letter to Sunak and Truss is the British Association of Social Workers, Centrepoint and the Trussell Trust.
NEW: The impact of the cost-of-living crisis on low-income families is the gravest issue our country faces.
— Joseph Rowntree Foundation (@jrf_uk) August 14, 2022
We, along with 70 other charities, have written to @trussliz and @RishiSunak for their reassurance that families will receive sufficient support.
🧵 pic.twitter.com/STCucD0Oy6
According to Joseph Rowntree Foundation chief executive Paul Kissack families are already struggling as the value of benefits continues to fall and costs rise.
“Even before the current crisis the social security system failed to cover the essentials, degraded by years of cuts,” he said.
“People are already selling their possessions, taking on risky debt and building up arrears they may never be able to pay back. And things are about to get far worse.
“Planning for a substantial support package needs to start immediately. Without it, vulnerable people will face a catastrophe on a vast scale when winter sets in. The consequences of sitting idly by are unthinkable," Kissack added.
Latest Office of National Statistics figures show that the consumer prices index rose to 10.1 per cent in the year to July, which is a 40 year high. This is up from 9.4 per cent in June.
The Bank of England has warned that inflation could increase to more than 13 per cent.
Earlier this month Magic Breakfast, which provides free breakfasts to around 200,000 children in areas of disadvantage, said its food costs had risen by 17 per cent.
