A new report lays bare the realities of the cost of living crisis for families on low income and offers an insight into local councillors’ fears of a “sense of crisis” in the communities they serve
Researchers at the University of York have led a series of studies into how rising living costs are affecting households across the country and the evidence highlights how a myriad of pressures are pushing families to breaking point.
Homelessness
Spiralling costs of household necessities, rising energy costs and inadequate social security policies are hitting households with low income hard – this has contributed to an increase in the number of people threatened with homelessness and is having a direct impact on people’s mental health, according to the report.
‘Sticking Plasters and Systemic Solutions: Cost of living responses in the UK’, published by the University’s York Cost of Living Research Group, explores the impact of the crisis from the perspective of families on low incomes, people experiencing fuel poverty and local government.
Local authorities have been at the forefront of the cost of living response, providing advice, innovative new services, and financial support to their communities and delivering key initiatives on behalf of central government.
But the new analysis reveals significant variations in how authorities deliver their support, with consequences for who is getting help and what that looks like.
Lifeline
The Household Support Fund (HSF), which provides local authorities in England with significant additional finance to help support vulnerable households with essentials, has become a lifeline for many people struggling with rising living costs.
However, pressure for rapid roll-out of the scheme has meant that significant variations have emerged in how HSF schemes are organised and has led to failings in providing people with the right kind of support for meeting their needs, according to the research.
A survey of elected councillors undertaken at the start of 2023 exposed concern for specific groups within their communities, including children in low income families, pensioners and those receiving unemployment benefits.
The findings showed that Eight out of 10 say that children in low income families were at risk of destitution in their area due to the cost of living crisis
Seven out of 10 say that people in receipt of unemployment benefits were at risk of destitution while Six out of 10 say that pensioners were at risk of destitution
Seven out of 10 say their authority would not be well equipped to respond to another financial shock in the future and Seven out of 10 say health and social care services in their local authority did not have sufficient resources to cope with the current crisis.
Early data analysis from a more recent survey undertaken in the summer supports the earlier findings, with councillors indicating that living standards have declined in their areas during the previous six months and expressing dissatisfaction with how the government has handled pressures from rising living costs.
The report states that local authority staff delivering financial support schemes have warned that current resources for tackling the cost of living crisis amount to a sticking plaster response upon which residents are increasingly dependent, whilst widespread structural problems in the welfare system go unaddressed.
It also calls into question the current tax and benefits system and makes the case for reversing policies, such as the two-child limit and the benefit cap, to protect families from the worst impacts of the crisis.
Evidence indicates that abolishing the two-child limit and benefit cap could help lift over 1.5 million children out of poverty, which would making a particular difference to households less able to increase their income through employment, including lone parents and families with younger children.
The report also highlights the impact of rising living costs on people’s mental health. The University’s Changing Cost of Living Study, which has been tracing how people’s mental health changes in real time as their financial circumstances change, showed that as people’s non-committed incomes have gone down, their depression and anxiety has gone up.
In addition, researchers found a strong association between emergency hospital admission rates and cold weather days. This association was stronger for more deprived areas, especially the most income deprived areas.
The authors of the report say the current approach to the crisis isn’t working and the social security system is in ‘desperate need’ of reform to address the deep social inequalities and persistent gaps in the UK’s social safety net.and
