Millions Of UK Households Forced To Unplug To Cope With Rising Bills

About 2m UK households have been forced to turn off their fridges or freezers to save money as they continue to struggle with what many describe as a “frightening” level of hardship.

According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) charity, Nearly half of those households say that since May they have had to disconnect appliances a sign the cost of living crisis was still hurting low-income families,.

The NGO said Millions of families were still resorting to “desperate measures” to cope with rising bills and prices, with four out of five households on universal credit also going without food, turning off the heating, and not replacing worn-out clothing.

The JRF’s latest cost of living crisis tracker survey found that in October a quarter (2.8m) of UK low-income households ran up debt to pay for food, a third sold belongings to raise cash, and one in six had used community “warm rooms”.

The findings come amid concerns among poverty charities that ministers are looking to reduce financial help for low income families at next week’s autumn statement by cutting benefits and winding down cost of living support payments.

The JRF said that although the government had allocated more than £12bn in targeted cost of living support, and inflation has begun to fall, 7.3m households had gone without food and other essentials in the last six months, suggesting the crisis was far from over.