Eight percent of Scottish spend 20% of their income on fuel bills

There are three levels of fuel poverty in Scotland and across the UK. They include basic, severe, and extreme. A recent survey shows that anywhere from 30 to as many as 35% of households are struggling to pay their energy bills. They are now falling into one of those three categories of poverty as noted below.

The government and many experts have a definition of fuel poverty. The basic level is for those people who spend more than 10% of their total household income on their utility bills. Consumers that spend anywhere from 16 to 20% are considered to be in a severe state. The last group is known as extreme fuel poverty, and this will be consumers that spend more than 20% of their wages on energy costs.

The results are not good for Scotland. Based on the survey, about 14% of people are in basic poverty, 10% are severe, and a very high 8% are in extreme poverty. This means that around 33% of residents are spending at minimum 10% of their income on their utility bills.

Not only does this show that fuel prices are too high, but it also shows the low or flat wages that many families in Scotland are faced with. Since people are spending so much on their utilities, this prevents individuals from have the money to buy food, pay their rent or housing or pay their other everyday living expenses.

Not only are all of these people living in fuel poverty, but the number that are struggling continues to increase. It has gone up over the last 12 years as the cost of energy bills has increased at a rate of four times more than incomes.

Another big cause is the lack of energy efficiency. As 95 per cent of customers that are struggling with electricity bill live in non-efficient homes according to government statistics.

Fuel poverty in Scotland has been rising significantly in recent years due to the fact that since 2003 energy prices have risen four times faster than household incomes. So this also shows that more and more money is going just to keep electricity on and not provide other means for Scottish families. The average gap between the utility bills that fuel-poor households face and what they can to pay was almost £400, so this is a big shortfall.

But there are steps people can take in order to get help. Not only can their look into switching providers or reviewing their current tarrifs, they can also look into financial help from ScottishPower. Or they can also put pressure on their local government to continue to reform the energy market in the UK.

This issue is now a crisis for many families. Fuel poverty is not just something the jobless face, but it is hurting many hard working families as well. Wages are just not supporting these costs, especially with the continued increase in tariffs. So look into all options available for assistance with these expenses.