The year the cost-of-living crisis went from bad to worse
What our data dashboard is telling us
I am a Senior Data Analyst working as part of the team that has put together our monthly cost-of-living data dashboard. This has given me a lot of insight into how the cost-of-living crisis has been affecting the people we help in the past year.
2022 was unlike any other year, as the cost-of-living crisis went from bad to worse.
In 2022, we broke many unwelcome records for the number of people we’ve helped who are in crisis situations. We’ve helped over 200,000 people with crisis support — like food bank referrals or emergency charitable grants to help them get by. That’s nearly 50% higher than last year, more than twice as high as in 2020 and more than two and a half times higher than in 2019.
The number of people we’ve helped who were struggling to afford their energy bills is unprecedented. We’ve helped 27,521 people who couldn’t afford to top up their prepayment meters — that’s 3 times more than last year and more than the whole of the last 10 years combined. If you can’t top up your prepayment meter then your power cuts off. No gas. No electricity. Nothing. Our research shows that over 3 million people on prepayment meters were cut off from their energy supply last year because they couldn’t afford to top up.
We’re also seeing a worrying trend in homelessness, we’ve helped more people with homelessness-related issues this year than in any other year since 2016.
The cost-of-living crisis didn’t affect everyone equally. Some groups were hit harder than others. For instance, people who we help access food banks and emergency charitable support are disproportionately likely to be People of Colour.
Of the people we helped who couldn’t afford to top up their prepayment meter, 57% were disabled people or people with a long-term health condition (that includes 36% who had multiple impairments) and 37% were single people with children.
Many people in these circumstances shouldn’t be on a prepayment meter at all, given the risks that being cut off from their gas and electricity supply poses to their health and safety. That’s why we’ve called for a total ban on forcing people onto prepayment meters until there are new protections in place to stop people from being cut off from their energy supply.
In 2022, we’ve also seen how the crisis has affected a wider group of people. We’ve seen a big increase in the number of people we’ve helped for the first time with crisis support (food banks and emergency charitable support).
And we’re seeing more people who are in employment need help with crisis support — this has gone up by 38% in the last year and more than doubled in the last two years
Policy helped — but it’s not enough
In October, we saw a steep dip in the number of people who couldn’t afford to top up their prepayment meter following the start of the Energy Bill Support Scheme (EBSS, £400 off energy bills split monthly between October and March). But this didn’t do enough to stop the problem. Last month, we saw another recording-breaking number of people on this issue.
Similarly, the number of people we helped refer to food banks dipped when the first cost-of-living payment of £324 was made in July. However, since then and even after following the second payment in November, these numbers have risen again to record levels in December.
The crisis would have been far worse without the Government’s support. But our data shows that it has not stopped this from being the worst winter on record — with record numbers being unable to afford food or to switch the gas or electricity on.
What could happen in 2023?
From our data, we’re making 3 predictions for 2023.
First, 2023 will be the year of the debt crisis. A double whammy of high-interest rates and inflation will mean debt will become one of the biggest issues this year. So far, we’re seeing a rising tide of people needing help with energy debts and the number of people we are helping with all debt issues has been continuously rising towards pre-pandemic levels.
Second, the combination of rising rents and high mortgage rates pushing landlords out of the rental market could mean that 2023 sees an eviction crisis for people renting privately. In the last year, the number of people who’ve come to us for a private rental sector eviction issue has been steadily increasing. And we’ve seen an even bigger increase in the number of views on our web pages related to rent increases
Third, with energy prices rising in April and Government support being restricted to those eligible for benefits, we predict that we’ll see more people needing help with crisis support who are in work and who need help for the first time.
All this shows is that 2022 was an exceptionally bad year for the people we help and continued to get worse. And despite the Government’s £900 Cost-of-Living payments for people eligible for benefits this year, this crisis is far from over
