Cost of living warning to families as household incomes predicted to fall again next year

The UK Government recently announced a series of new cost of living payments to help millions of households across the country mitigate soaring inflation and rising energy bills. The new cost of living support package is worth £26 billion in 2023/24, in addition to the 10.1% benefits uprating, which is worth £11 billion to working age households and people with disabilities.

The DWP has announced that millions of people on low incomes will receive a cost-of-living cash boost from this spring.

Recent data published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) suggests that 7.8 million people across the UK are finding it increasingly more challenging to keep up with their household bills, a rise of around 2.5 million since 2020. The research shows that one in four UK adults are in financial difficulty or believe they could quickly find themselves in difficulty if an unexpected cash emergency popped up.

Starting off the new year strong! Jennifer Lopez, Anne Hathaway and more stars rang in 2023 with a bang.

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The UK Government recently announced a series of new cost of living payments to help millions of households across the country mitigate soaring inflation and ever-increasing energy bills. The new cost of living support package is worth £26 billion in 2023/24, in addition to benefits uprating, which is worth £11 billion to working age households and people with disabilities.

New analysis suggests that a German-style national drive to reduce UK energy use by turning off lights and lowering heating temperatures could save households £400 and save the Treasury £9 billion. The Social Market Foundation (SMF), a cross-party think-tank, is calling on the UK Government to follow Germany’s lead and launch an information campaign that provides practical tips on reducing household energy demand.

The ongoing cost of living crisis has made 2022 a challenging year for millions of households across Scotland. Soaring energy bills along with higher food and fuel prices brought about by record-breaking inflation means budgets are continually being pushed to breaking point.

The UK Government has launched a dedicated website aimed at helping households save money on their energy bills. A new advertising campaign has also started airing on TV screens nationwide as part of the ‘It All Adds Up’ £18 million awareness initiative.

A Scots shop owner has been handing out free 'sleeping pods' for homeless people in a bid to save lives this winter.

Nurses and midwives in Perth and Kinross will join strikes across Scotland next year after members of the Royal College of Nursing “overwhelmingly” rejected the latest pay offer for NHS workers.

Good afternoon Insiders and a happy holiday to you all, Max Goldbart here seeing out the year. We’re inching slowly towards the holiday and have just got a quick summary of the week’s headlines and some Essentials for you this week. We’ll be taking a well-earned (we hope!) break next week but back all systems go on Friday January 6. Until then, our heartfelt thanks go out to all you Insider readers. We are nothing without you. Merry Xmas, Happy Chanukah and a Happy New Year.

A new online petition is calling on the UK Government to increase the tax-free Personal Allowance threshold to “help families survive” the ongoing cost of living crisis. The standard Personal Allowance is £12,570, which is the amount of income you do not have to pay tax on.

The UK Government recently announced a series of new cost of living payments to help millions of households across the country mitigate soaring inflation and ever-increasing energy bills. The new cost of living support package is worth £26 billion in 2023-24, in addition to benefits uprating, which is worth £11 billion to working age households and people with disabilities.

Evil killer, Damien Bendall who brutally murdered his pregnant girlfriend and three children joins the list of some of the country's most dangerous criminals who will spend the rest of their lives behind bars. The 'sleepover killer' was given a whole life order on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to the murders of his 35-year-old partner Teri Haris, her 11-year-old daughter Lacey Bennett, her son John Paul Bennett, 13 and Lacey's friend Connie Gent, 11.

After some 50 years in the business, Bill Nighy is used to people getting his surname wrong. It actually rhymes with ‘sigh’: the ‘y’ is silent. “My dad was very particular about it,” he says, “and for a while, I used to correct people on his behalf, because he couldn’t bear it when people said ‘Nigh-y’. It really got to him. But I’m very, very accustomed to it. The first time I was ever in a show that was reviewed in a paper, I was Bill Nigby. I’ve been Bill Nighty — that’s a regular one — and if there’s one more than any other, it’s Nighly. It’s funny, when people get things wrong, they don’t get them wrong by simplifying them, they get them wrong by making them more complicated. So, they lengthen my name. It’s always slightly longer than it should be.”