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Highlights
- About 3.8 million households were found to be facing bill arrears in new research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
- About 33 per cent of low-income households were in arrears, up from 11 per cent before the pandemic.
- Homes having children, those below 45 years of age, minority ethnic groups and others were all found to have a higher likelihood of facing household bill arrears.
About 3.8 million households in the UK are facing arrears in electricity, council tax and other related bill arrears, according to the UK-based poverty charity research from Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF).
Of the 3.8 million households facing arrears, around 1.4 million households are expected to be late on their electricity and gas bills, about 950,000 households are expected to be in rent arrears, and about 1.4 million are facing council tax bills arrears, as per JRF.
As per the JRF research, about 33 per cent of low-income households were facing arrears, compared to 11 per cent prior to the pandemic.
It also found that households with children or London households having an age of below 45 years, households with black, Asian or other minority ethnic groups have a higher likelihood of facing arrears.
Based on the findings, JRF recommended the reinstating of the £20 Universal Credit scheme as it aided in providing debt-ridden households with some funding. The Universal Credit programme was cut on 6 October.
The report mainly looked at low-income households in the UK, with an average household income of less than or equal to £24,752. Such low-income households are in the bottom 40 per cent of UK household incomes and account for around 11.6 million British households.
Let us explore the investment prospect of 2 FTSE listed stocks in the energy sector:
- SSE PLC (LON: SSE)
FTSE 100 index constituent SSE is a Scotland based multinational energy firm.
The company’s renewable energy arm, SSE Renewables, recently submitted a scoping report for its Berwick Bank project located in Scotland’s waters. Berwick Bank is a wind farm project and has a capacity of up to 4.1 GW.
The scoping report included a change in design, which was aimed at reducing the wind project’s impact on seabirds.
(Image source: EODHD/Others)
SSE’s shares closed at GBX 1,621.00, up by 2.08 per cent on 20 October. Comparatively, the FTSE 100 index ended at 7,223.10, up by 0.08 per cent.
The company’s market cap stood at £17,271.69 million, and it had a one-year return of 21.56 per cent as of Wednesday.
- Drax Group PLC (LON: DRX)
FTSE 250 index listed company Drax Group is a power generation firm with a goal of becoming carbon negative by 2030.
The company’s biomass plant-based in Selby, Yorkshire, was found to be the highest emitter of carbon dioxide in the country, according to new research by think tank Ember.
It also found the plant was the highest CO2 and particulate matter 10 (which is a way to measure air quality) across all European power station when including emissions from biomass plants.
However, biomass emissions are considered carbon-neutral at present and hence not a part of the UK’s total CO2 emissions.
(Image source: EODHD/Others)
Drax’s shares closed at GBX 550.00, down by 0.72 per cent on 20 October. Comparatively, the FTSE 250 index ended at 22,966.67, down by 0.38 per cent.
The company’s market cap stood at £2,194.19 million, and it had a one-year return of 82.36 per cent as of Wednesday.
