How are people on benefits supposed to afford high utility bills when their payments aren’t keeping up?
We learned today (Tuesday, February 25, 2025) that energy bills are rising by 6.4 per cent, to an average of £462.25 for the three months from April to June. That’s £154 per month.
We already know that water bills in England and Wales are rising by a massive 26 per cent in April, to an average of £603 per year – £50.25 per month.
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So if a person on Universal Credit paid the average amount, they would spend £204.25 per month on those two bills alone. They have to have mobile phones, at the very least, in order to conform to Universal Credit requirements – most of it is carried out online – and that costs an average of £30 per month, apparently.
From April, Universal Credit will receive its annual uprating – of just 1.7 per cent. This means that for an adult aged over 25 it will go from £393.45 to £400.14 per month.
And more than half of that could be spent on just three bills.
I’m not saying it will be – for example, I’m on UC and I don’t spend £154 on electricity (I don’t have gas).
But it seems clear that, while utility bills are spiralling out of control, the ability of the poorest people to pay them is being stripped away by a government that is out of touch with the cost of living.
No wonder shoplifting has increased by around 37 per cent in the past two years.
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How are people on benefits supposed to afford high utility bills?
How are people on benefits supposed to afford high utility bills when their payments aren’t keeping up?
We learned today (Tuesday, February 25, 2025) that energy bills are rising by 6.4 per cent, to an average of £462.25 for the three months from April to June. That’s £154 per month.
We already know that water bills in England and Wales are rising by a massive 26 per cent in April, to an average of £603 per year – £50.25 per month.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
So if a person on Universal Credit paid the average amount, they would spend £204.25 per month on those two bills alone. They have to have mobile phones, at the very least, in order to conform to Universal Credit requirements – most of it is carried out online – and that costs an average of £30 per month, apparently.
From April, Universal Credit will receive its annual uprating – of just 1.7 per cent. This means that for an adult aged over 25 it will go from £393.45 to £400.14 per month.
And more than half of that could be spent on just three bills.
I’m not saying it will be – for example, I’m on UC and I don’t spend £154 on electricity (I don’t have gas).
But it seems clear that, while utility bills are spiralling out of control, the ability of the poorest people to pay them is being stripped away by a government that is out of touch with the cost of living.
No wonder shoplifting has increased by around 37 per cent in the past two years.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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