by Fred
Millions of families across Britain are having to take loans and use
their credit cards to cover basic bills and expenses, according to an
analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF).
It is amazing that, even though we are the sixth biggest economy on
the planet, we have working famies who are struggling to pay basic bills.
Despite a slow fall in inflation and energy prices, interest rates are
still high with rates having increased by 1.75% in the past year. This is
not helping at all with the debts faced by low-income
households, i.e., those who’s wages are no longer sufficient to cover the cost of living.
Whilst 2.3 million low-income families have had to take loans out to
pay their basic bills, the UK’s richest man, Gopi Hinduja, now has a net
worth that is about twice the total unsecured debt of 6 million low-
income families. Gopi Hinduja, owner of the Hinduja Group, has a
net worth of £35 billion, the total of unsecured debt is £18.1 billion,
including interest in May 2023.
Overall, the number of low-income families struggling to pay water
heating and electricity bills are far more than should be in our society. These catastrophic levels of poverty should not be
seen in the sixth-largest economy. These mind boggling figures show
that there is need for change in our society and system.