Poor Families Slammed by Soaring Bills – £1,200 ‘Help’ Just Won’t Cut It
The government’s £1,200 aid to struggling households this year won’t make a dent in their rising costs, a shocking report reveals.
£20 Weekly Boost Scrapped, Energy Bills Skyrocket
From October 2021 to October 2022, families faced three major financial blows: the scrapping of the £20-a-week Universal Credit uplift, below-inflation benefit increases, and a massive hike in the energy price cap. Together, these have left many desperately short of cash.
The report, commissioned by former PM Gordon Brown, exposes how the poorest are being hit hardest – and that the flat-rate government payments ignore families’ vastly different sizes and needs.
Families With Kids Losing Nearly as Much as Last Year’s Benefit Cut
- A couple with three children is bleeding as much from rising costs now as from last year’s Universal Credit cut.
- An unemployed couple with two kids faces losses of nearly £1,300 – rising to £1,600 when factoring in inflation hitting poorer households harder.
- Energy cap rises alone add a staggering £800 to their expenses, and it could get worse.
- Benefit rises in April 2022 were only 3.1%, far short of the 9% inflation rate recorded.
Gordon Brown Demands “Immediate Action” From New PM
“It is the next prime minister’s urgent task to ensure families have enough to live on through this crisis and beyond,” Brown said. “Flat-rate payments won’t stretch far enough for families with different needs.”
Brown warns the government must close the widening “support gap” before soaring costs overwhelm the most vulnerable.
Charities Sound the Alarm on Growing Crisis
Professor Donald Hirsch from Loughborough University led the report, backed by 56 charities and faith groups. The Food Foundation called the findings “alarming.”
“There is a serious shortfall in support for families who need it most. Immediate action is required,” said Isabel Hughes of the charity. “Expanding free school meals is crucial to prevent a nutrition crisis threatening children’s health, education, and futures.”
The warning is clear: without urgent government intervention, millions of families will be pushed deeper into hardship as living costs surge sky-high.
