Fuel poverty: 'There comes a point where you can't put more clothes on'
I will go hungry," concludes Beverley Smith after contemplating how she will get through the winter months. The "heat or eat" dilemma is not a new one for her. She's been down to the bare bones for some time, but the recent fuel price rises are about to test her coping powers anew.
Smith, 47, is severely disabled. She's tetraplegic and largely bed-bound. Most of her £174-a-week benefits income goes straight into her social care costs, leaving her with £71 a week for food, bills and any other costs. In April this dropped to £55 when she had to make up a £16.55-a-week housing benefit shortfall as a result of the bedroom tax. "I'm not living it up here," she says ruefully.
Because of her condition she needs the heating on constantly, all year round, at a cost of around £108 a month. Two years ago it was around £80 a month. Her basic income has barely gone up since then, but now, she says, her gas supplier thinks she should pay £120 a month. "I can't afford it now. How am I going to pay that?"...
Smith is one of hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people – particularly older people, people with a disability or families on low incomes – who face a stark heat or eat dilemma. Imminent energy price rises, soaring food bills and shrinking or static incomes have played havoc with already tight budgets, and there is nervousness about the coming months....
Much more at link:
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/oct/25/fuel-poverty-heat-or-eat
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