The cost of living crisis is two times harder for disabled households than the non-disabled, a study has found. Disabled people are being compelled to cut back on heating, food and washing amid the rising cost of living. While some people are struggling to do their daily chores without proper aid and cutting down on the usage of necessary electric equipment for their disabilities, many are discontinuing their medical prescriptions due to rising costs.
Asian Voice reported a few weeks ago that Type 1 diabetes patients were struggling to purchase basic testing equipment due to the rise in the cost of living. Furthering the fear and increasing challenges for Britons, the latest research conducted by disability equality charity Scope found that 91% of respondents to their survey said they are worried about their energy bills, and 45% stated that they are not planning on using heating, even when it gets cold.
A disabled woman from Bilborough in Nottingham has developed an eating disorder as she rations meals to save money. Her energy bills have already tripled this year and she doesn't yet know what she'll be paying when the energy prices rise.
A Northern Ireland-based disabled man is practically ‘on death row’ as energy bills soar. He relies on an oxygen machine, a nebuliser, and a specially adapted electric bed and toilet. His mother fears that she will keep him alive this winter. Reportedly, many people in the UK are switching off fridges to save cash. People with disabilities and chronic illnesses have been forced to go without vital medication. One in 20 disabled people has stopped buying medicines or paying for health treatments they need.
A retail worker Nadiya Amirat, 22, told a publication that she has been suffering from relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), and spends £35 to £50 on prescriptions each month but is worried she will have to go without medication because of the cost of living.
Reportedly with rising inflation, the government may not increase benefits in line for disabled people. This happened despite former Chancellor Rishi Sunak promising that benefits would be uprated in April 2023 to match the inflation rate for September 2021. Hence, the support for disabled people faces a £1bn shortfall. Charities including Scope, Mencap and Disability Rights UK have urgently called on the government to immediately increase benefits in line with inflation.
A report released this month by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust drives home the disproportionate impact of the energy crisis on disabled people. Using polling from YouGov, it shows that already, nearly half of disabled households (48 per cent) have struggled to keep their homes warm this year, compared with 30 per cent of non-disabled households. With domestic energy prices due to rise by as much as 50% in April, and further increases expected in October when the energy price cap is raised again, this year could present a triple threat for people with cancer, who are already struggling with the financial impact of their diagnosis and the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Disability Rights UK told Asian Voice that the charity is working with a coalition, Disability Poverty Campaign Group, to highlight the disproportionate impact the cost of living crisis is having on Disabled people and to ask Government and Ofgem to take urgent action. The charity elaborated that disabled people have higher energy costs, some of which are linked to medical and health equipment, the need for increased laundry and bathing and the need temperature control. The Government’s energy package does not adequately respond to the poorest Disabled people with the highest energy costs. Disabled people are also experiencing higher food costs, as some of us need to shop at local stores and some of us need pre-prepared food.Benefit levels are extremely low and are not keeping up with inflation. Disabled people using care services are also being asked to make ever-increasing contributions towards the cost of care.
Dan White DR UK policy and Campaigns officer and one of the leads at the Disability Poverty Campaign Group said: “This announcement is breathtaking and will do nothing to alleviate the entrenched suffering that Disabled people and carers are spiralling deeper into. For humanity's sake, this must be readdressed, and the Government have to realise that they are condemning millions of families and individuals to unnecessary destitution.”
Disabled people are much less likely to be in employment
UK-based learning disability charity Mencap stated that disabled people are much less likely to be in employment – as of 2020, 23 per cent of UK working-age adults with a learning disability had a paid job, compared to 53 per cent of working age adults with any disability and 76 per cent of the general population.
£1.2million to struggling cancer patients in London
People with cancer are facing ‘triple threat’ due to the cost of living crisis, Covid-19, and the financial fallout of their diagnosis. As many cancer patients on low-incomes struggle with the financial fallout of a diagnosis, compounded by the current cost of living crisis and Covid-19, Macmillan is urging anyone in need to seek their support. Macmillan Grants helped 3,372 Londoners pay for essentials such as heating bills and hospital transport costs after they were diagnosed with cancer or underwent cancer treatment.
A cancer diagnosis often brings increased and unexpected living costs, such as requiring wigs or post-surgery clothing, a new bed for someone who can no longer climb the stairs to their bedroom, or fresh bedding for those experiencing incontinence and other treatment side effects. Research by Macmillan found that across the UK, 83% of people diagnosed with cancer suffered a financial impact. However, one of the biggest expenses facing people with cancer is higher energy bills. Many people undergoing cancer treatment need to have the heating on for longer periods due to the side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
In recognition of the extraordinary challenges facing cancer patients in 2022, Macmillan has made an extra £3.5 million of emergency funds available to help pay escalating fuel bills. In the first six weeks of 2022, Macmillan has given out over £1.6 million in grants to support vulnerable patients across the UK – an increase of 33% on the same time last year.
Vast majority aged over sixty plus – sign an Age UK letter to the Prime Minister
Ahead of the Government’s fiscal event, almost 35,000 – the vast majority aged over sixty plus – have signed an Age UK letter to the Prime Minister, warning that the rapid rise in the cost of living is endangering older people’s lives. Leading charity for old aged people, Age UK told Asian Voice, “In terms of support locally, there are local Age UKs across the UK who are there to support older people throughout the winter. Each area does different things but we can offer the national advice line as a national point of reference if you wanted to flag where people can go for help and advice.”
Food Bank
Speaking to Asian Voice, Abdullah Rehman of Bahu Trust said, “In the UK, traditionally food hampers have been given out to the elderly and vulnerable members of communities at Harvest festivals and at Christmas but all year-round hunger has been a prominent issue since 2007 and has dramatically increased since 2011. From our local research, we found that many people were suffering from crises such as debt due to various reasons, the main factor so far has been delays to individual’s benefits, this being the major cause of people suffering from a crisis situation and visiting us for help. As a result of our findings, we successfully launched our Foodbank in 2019 which opens every Friday from 10 am – 1pm as part of our drive to increase our engagement with the local community by reaching out beyond the four walls.”
He explained that The Foodbank has been designed to be a place of welcome where clients are greeted with respect, and met with a sympathetic ear by one of our volunteers. Food Bank has helped 3,300 neighbours to date with the majority asking for further support or signposting to organisations that can offer relevant support along with debt crises, housing issues, safeguarding concerns and individuals with mental health issues.
The story of Rukhsana* really stands out as someone who needed support to get around however after 6 months of using our service she has now ditched her Zimmer frame and is able to walk without it. Rukhsana a resident of a nursing home in Balsall Heath can now dress, and feed herself and is independent in getting ready for daily life. One of the things she expressed was how she is now independent, and this change in her life was down to the support surgery which offered her the care and listening ear needed to give her the confidence to know she is not alone.
Ibrahim* was another case study where he was suffering from depression and did not feel happy with his life. We listened and fast established he was struggling to pay his energy bills and for the first time in his life, he had fallen into debt. The pensioner has no other family members who are supporting him and all his children have moved out. *(Names have been changed to protect identity)
Community Surgery
In addition to the food bank, the trust has developed a Community Support Surgery which is based next to the Mosque offering support and advice to people who are struggling with issues that impact their lives often causing extreme poverty. The support surgery offers a strictly confidential service and runs every Friday with future ambitions for it to become a daily fixture. Throughout the Pandemic the surgery was used by Birmingham City Council to test volunteers before they went out to door knock and hand out LFT Covid Testing Kits. “Many families have reluctantly turned to our foodbank which is helping them to leave the heating on slightly longer, but often times some of the elderly service users have said they no longer put the heating on at all and just layer up so they do not get cold, it is a choice for many between “Eating or Heating”, this is heartbreaking,” Rehman told the newsweekly.
He further added that many young married Asian couples are leaving home unlike the traditional staying with the in-laws, so we have many more vulnerable elderly Asians living alone who in the past would have had family support around them. Now a small but worrying percentage are unable to make ends meet with their pensions as food, and energy bills become unaffordable. The future could see more and more break up of those traditional Asian family units, replaced by, elderly and disabled parents living alone, leaving them vulnerable, especially with the current cost of living crisis.
“We are finding more and more people staying longer in the Mosque just so they can stay warm and the pressure on pensioners is really showing. Over the past year, we have been distributing the Household Support Fund to families and pensioners, this has helped go towards food and energy costs, but ultimately it is just a sticking plaster for the pain which is yet to come,” Rehman said.
Entrepreneur, Disability Specialist and Speaker Shani Dhanda was interviewed in the Good Morning Britain studio by Martin Lewis and Susanna Reid. She shared a detailed thread on Twitter, summarising the impetus of rising costs and their impact on disabled people. Dhanda spoke about the distinct lack of awareness of the extra costs disabled people face either for extra washing, electric wheelchair charging, powering oxygen machines and sensory mats to alert parents of night-time seizures - the list of constant power use is ever-growing. Only six million disabled people are due to receive this support, yet there are 14.6 million disabled people in the UK. “ For disabled people who can work, we are twice as likely to be unemployed and have to apply for 60% more jobs. We face a disability pay gap so wide we work effectively two months of the year for free; the gap is wider if you're a woman and/or person of colour. More disabled people are falling into poverty and do not have a way to get out of it. Your capacity to get out of poverty is primarily based on your capability to work. Even before the energy crisis 4 in 10 families who rely on disability benefits were living in poverty. This is a humanitarian crisis that is avoidable if the government provides urgent targeted support and values the lives of disabled people.” she tweeted.
