TUC – Energy bills will “eat up”10% of the average salary from April

• New analysis shows impact of rising bills on family finances
• Low-paid workers will have to fork out a sixth of their pay to heat their homes
• Union body calls on government to cancel its imminent £500 hike in energy bills and to get wages rising urgently
• UK energy market has become “a racket”, says union body

Energy bills will eat up 10% of the average salary from this April – new TUC analysis has revealed today (Saturday)

The analysis shows that the average energy bill will rise to £250 a month – a tenth of the UK average monthly salary.

This is more than double the amount workers were paying in March 2022 when average energy bills were £107 a month – or 4% of the UK average monthly salary.

Lowest earners hit hardest

The analysis shows that low-income earners are being hit hardest by skyrocketing energy prices.

A full-time minimum wage worker will face bills worth 16% of their monthly salary when the price cap is raised in April – up from 8% in March 2022.

Urgent action needed on wages and bills

The TUC says urgent action is needed to help bring down bills and to boost wages in next month’s budget.

The union body today repeated its calls for a higher windfall tax on big oil and gas companies and urged ministers to end “Britain’s living standards nightmare”.

The TUC says years of wage stagnation have left millions of households badly exposed to rising prices.

TUC analysis published in January shows that UK workers have lost £20,000, on average, in real wages since 2008 as a result of pay not keeping up with inflation – the equivalent of £1,450 a year. By 2025 the loss will total £24,000.  

Broken energy market

The TUC believes the UK energy market has become “a racket” with oil and gas firms making billions in profits while families struggle to heat their homes.

The TUC is calling for public ownership of energy to help bring down bills and fund investment in home insulation. The big energy retail companies should be nationalised, alongside an expansion of public clean power generation.

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:

“The government must cancel its imminent hike in household energy bills at next month’s budget.  Families across Britain are being pushed to the brink by sky-high bills.

“That means imposing a larger windfall tax on greedy oil and gas suppliers. And it means boosting wages across the economy.

“UK workers are on course for two decades of lost pay. This has left millions brutally exposed to soaring prices.

“Unless we get wages rising, working people will just keep lurching from crisis to crisis.”

On the need to reform the energy market, Paul Nowak added:

“Private energy firms are getting away with treating households like cash machines.

“While millions struggle to heat their homes, they are coining it in.

“Our energy market has become a racket. It’s time to bring companies back into public ownership.

“Privatisation has been a disaster for hard-pressed households. The only real winners have been shareholders who have creamed off hundreds of millions in dividends.

“That's why the TUC is calling for the government to set up a public energy company to lower bills.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

*Based on £3,000 Energy Price Guarantee, as Ofgem’s Energy Price Cap is forecast by Cornwall Insights to be £3,294 from April

** Whichever is lower.

- Methodology: TUC analysis of ONS Average Weekly Earnings and OBR wage growth forecasts, compared to Energy Price Cap and Energy Price Guarantee. The Energy Price Guarantee is scheduled to rise to £3000 from April 2023