Millions of energy customers falling behind on bills have 'worse health outcomes'

Increasing energy bills are having a devastating effect on the millions of people "trapped" in fuel poverty, a report has found.Households are spending more to keep their homes warm amid prolonged price hikes.

Researchers have found that millions of UK households are facing financial hardship due to the energy price crisis. A new study has developed a way to measure the number of people who are most vulnerable to price hikes.

These households were found to be associated with worse health, disability, and wellbeing outcomes for adults that were "mainly driven" by falling behind on energy bills.

Nearly one third of households who are unable to manage high energy prices, an increase from one quarter prior to the energy price crisis, reported the study.Researchers found that employment status, housing tenure, inability to save, energy prepayment methods, and household composition are indicators of households that may struggle to withstand high energy prices and heat their homes effectively.This new indicator was designed to give policymakers data to identify which households are most likely to struggle with energy affordability and financial solvency, while helping to plan support and interventions for those struggling to keep a warm home.The study comes from researchers at the University of Sheffield, the UK Energy Research Centre, and Universities of Nottingham, East Anglia and Macedonia."Our study puts forward a definition and a quantifiable measure of low energy price resilience that can be used to inform policy making aimed at preventing the worst economic, health and wellbeing consequences of high and prolonged energy price events on households in the UK," said Dr Andrew Burlinson of the University of Sheffield's