Wealthier households 'set to receive twice as much cost-of-living support'

15 Sep 2022

Think tank the Resolution Foundation has suggested that wealthier households in the UK will receive twice as much cost-of-living support than poorer households.

The Resolution Foundation highlighted that government plans to supply additional cost-of-living support to households by scrapping the planned rise in national insurance would only 'skew support towards the very highest household incomes'.

Prime Minister Liz Truss recently outlined plans to help UK households with rising energy bills this winter. The new Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) means that from 1 October a typical household will pay no more than £2,500 per year for the next two years. It comes in addition to the £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme, and also includes the temporary suspension of green levies.

The Resolution Foundation suggested that higher income households 'typically use more energy', so the top fifth could stand to gain around £1,300 this winter from the EPG, compared to £1,100 for the lowest income households.

Additionally, the think tank stated that income is 'not the main predictor of energy use': it said that more than one in ten households will receive over £2,000 from the EPG, but 13% stand to receive less than £500.