Cost of Living Crisis - Costing More Than We Knew
As anyone who has been paying attention to the news will know, the cost of living crisis is having a dramatic impact on the financial wellbeing of people all across the United Kingdom (UK).
One news headline recently accurately captured the severity, stating “a fall in disposable incomes, a rise in the cost of electricity and food is leaving many people without the resources they need to survive”.
As indicated in the Rising Cost of Living in the UK Report presented in front of the UK parliament in January 2023, “the cost of living has been increasing across the UK since early 2021” (Harari et al., 2023, p. 4). This rise has been attributed to the rate of inflation, the rising prices of food, energy, and fuel, and the conflict in Ukraine (Harari et al., 2023).
Consumer prices have been noted to be 10.5% higher than this time last year (Harari et al., 2023). While prices have been rising all around the world throughout the past two years, primarily because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the recent rises in the UK have resulted in significant disparity across England, Wales, and Scotland (Harari et al., 2023).
As a result of these factors, many UK households are struggling to keep their heads above water, experiencing significant difficulty in paying their monthly bills. Rising energy bills are one of the most significant factors, with energy bills approximately 80% higher than this time last year.
The UK government has taken some measures in order to support people across the country through the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG), energy bill support, council tax rebates, cut to fuel costs, and have enacted other support policies as well (Harari et al., 2023). Further, despite this support, there is a continued notion that ‘heating is not a luxury’ and UK residents should not have to choose between heating their homes and meeting their basic needs.
Further, these substantial cost increases are continuing to have financial and health implications on individuals, families, and communities. For example, not having the money to support people’s heating costs means that more people are living in cold and damp home conditions. Some have even termed this as living in ‘energy poverty’ or ‘lacking affordable warmth’ (Kose, 2019). This increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, as well as arthritic and respiratory conditions (Aimee et al., 2020). Further, living in warm accommodation is substantially related to health measures including asthma rates, frequency of hospital visits, and the development of long-standing health conditions (Kose, 2019).
Importantly, research has also noted that older people, children, and babies are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of unaffordable warmth (Kose, 2019).
Furthermore, living in cold and damp living conditions also has wide-ranging impacts on wellbeing (Liddell & Guiney, 2015). For example, some research has indicated that cold and damp homes can increase mental disorders and negatively impact mental health (Liddell & Guiney, 2015).
In addition, living in cold and damp living conditions is associated with stress, particularly because people are overwhelmed in trying to overcome these living conditions, and at times have to make hard decisions between heating their homes and meeting other basic needs such as purchasing food (Liddell & Guiney, 2015).. Additional stressors include low income, fear of debt, worry about damage to possessions, stigma, and experiences of social isolation (Liddell & Guiney, 2015).
As helpfully captured in the above mindmap by Public Health Wales (2022), there are several, complex, and interweaving links between the cost of living crisis and health.
In conclusion, we urge all aspiring and current healthcare students and professionals to consider how the current cost of living crisis is affecting their patients, themselves, and their communities and do what they can to support those who need it the most.
To learn more about this issue, please explore the below websites:
https://bbc.com/future/article/20221107-energy-crisis-how-living-in-a-cold-home-affects-your-health
https://independentnurse.co.uk/news/is-the-energy-crisis-the-uks-next-public-health-emergency/249841
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/the-cost-of-living-crisis-is-a-public-health-issue/
References
Aimee, A., Baker, W., Brierley, J., Butler, D., Marchand, R., & Sherriff, A. (2020). Stuck at home in a cold home: The implications of COVID-19 for the fuel poor. People, Place, and Policy, 20(1), 1-4. 10.3351/ppp.2020.3447683949
Harari, D., Bolton, P., Francis-Devine, B., & Keep, M. (2023). Rising cost of living in the UK. House of Commons Library. https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9428/CBP-9428.pdf
Kose, T. (2019). Energy poverty and health: The Turkish case. Energy Sources, Part B: Economics, Planning, and Policy, 14(5), 201-213. 10.1080/15567249.2019.1653406
Liddell, C., & Guiney, C. (2015). Living in a cold and damp home: Frameworks for understanding impact on mental well-being. Public Health, 129(1), 191-199. 10.1016/j.puhe.2014.11.007
Public Health Wales. (2022). Cost of living crisis in Wales: A public health lens. World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre on Investment for Health and Wellbeing. https://phwwhocc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/PHW-Cost-of-Living-Report-ENG.pdf
