Last week saw the introduction of various tax and benefit changes that will reduce the living standards of very many people.
You can argue that we face a crisis and everyone has to muck in. This is mocked, however, by the fact that the bankers are getting away with blue murder while the rest of us stump up for the crisis that their greed did so much to create.
But it is also clear that children have no responsibility for the crisis and that a decent society would make sure they didn't suffer.
Save the Children's annual poverty report is particularly timely in focusing on the extra burden low-income families have to pay for basic goods and services because they have fewer resources.
Many poor families do not have lines of credit, or often even bank accounts. This complicates bills, forcing them to turn to undesirable alternative options, such as excessively high loans or predatory loan sharks. They then end up paying more than most families.
The extra cost of poverty has increased by £280 since 2007 and now totals approximately £1280 a year for the average low-income family.
Gas and electricity comprise 20% of the added cost to the poor. If poor families paid the same for their gas and electricity as middle-class families, they would save at least £250 annually. However, low-income households simply cannot sacrifice these commodities, placing poor families in an impossible dilemma.
I worry especially about the impact this has on children. All children deserve a heated home and reports overwhelmingly show the negative effects growing up in homes without heat and electricity has on children.
Currently only 1 in 6 energy companies include low-income families with children as eligible for social tariff programmes, and this needs to be changed immediately.
Many families are not aware of the options available and this needs to be fixed. Proper notification of price increases is necessary, as is properly informing families of options such as eligibility for aid programmes.
Energy companies must work to help poor families not make life any more difficult for them than it already is.
Newcastle Chronicle and Journal
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