Study: About 2M low-income British households resort to unplugging refrigerators due to soaring electricity bills
11/22/2023 // Belle Carter
According to a study conducted by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), about two million poor households in the United Kingdom are resorting to desperate measures such as turning off refrigerators or freezers, just to be able to cope with ever-soaring bills.
The independent social change organization "working to solve U.K. poverty" said that in October, a quarter, or 2.8 million, of low-income households had incurred debts to pay for food, a third had sold belongings to raise cash, and one in six had used so-called community "warm rooms." Also, four out of five households on universal credit were going without food, switching off heating and not replacing worn-out clothing. Nearly a million households said that since May, they had to disconnect their fridge or freezer for the first time.
"Millions of families unplugging their fridges and freezers is the latest chapter in a long-running story of hardship," Peter Matejic, chief analyst at the JRF, was quoted as saying. "People risk becoming sick from eating spoiled food and going without healthy, fresh food. This risks lasting harm to the health of millions." He also said that the picture is not getting better for poor families even as inflation starts to come down. "Too many are taking out loans to pay for food, selling their belongings and using warm banks to try and get by," he said.
https://www.naturalnews.com/2023-11-22-2m-poor-households-resort-to-unplugging-fridge.html
