Scott showing off this kitchen at Moray Lodge

Cost of living

Disabled people are having to choose between eating and heating their homes thanks to rising living costs.

Life costs more if you’re disabled

Disabled people have faced many additional costs, even before prices started rising. From charging or repairing vital disability equipment to heating homes to manage a condition. 

[Source: Scope]

 

It’s very difficult to keep up with the higher cost of living. We can only have the heating on for three days out of five and we’re having beans on toast for Sunday roast.

The stats

Times are tough for everyone as the cost of living crisis continues to bite. 

This is putting pressure on all households, but disabled households are feeling this more than most.

Illustration of people sitting around a table

Missing meals

68% of disabled people are worried they’ll have to skip meals to cope this winter. [Source: Sense, 2023]

Illustrations of a house with people standing at the window

Heating or eating

More than half (56%) of disabled people are struggling to afford their energy bills. [Source: ONS, 2023]

Illustration of a carer and resident

Food banks

Seven in ten (69%) of working-age people referred to food banks in The Trussell Trust’s network have at least one impairment or health condition that meets the Equality Act 2010 definition of a disability. [Source: Trussell, 2023]

Support can't wait

 

As we enter another Winter it is daunting to think about how much worse it could get. More than half of disabled people we surveyed said they felt anxious, depressed or hopeless about financial worries or problems. 

Last winter disabled people told us they were rationing their energy use, causing implications for their physical and mental health. With the Energy Bills Support Scheme no longer in place, we fear a repeat in the winter ahead.

The government risks further pushing disabled people to breaking point unless it takes action now.

What are we calling for

We need:

  • All benefits increased at least in line with inflation.
  • Additional financial support for disabled households this winter.
  • A review to ensure benefits cover the essentials, including the extra costs that come with disability.
  • Consultation on an energy social tariff to protect disabled people.
  • Improvements to the Household Support Fund and long-term funding committed from April 2024.
Chloe in her wheelchair typing on a keyboard at home

Rising costs will soon leave me out of options

One of our supporters told us about the impact the cost of living crisis is having on their life and why they're scared for the future.

"I've become an expert in frugality, owing to the ever-increasing difficulty of making ends meet on disability benefits that have not been adequately adjusted for inflation and rising costs."

Stock image of an empty fridge
Grace, Change 100 intern, working from her garden

Disabled people are still falling through the cracks

The Household Support Fund is for people who "fall through the cracks" of other cost of living support measures. But our research found it's not reaching enough disabled households.

Read our briefing

A female wheelchair user with her guide dog and carer in a supermarket

Rising costs are a catastrophe for disabled people

Our 2022 research showed that even before the cost of living crisis began to bite, one in four working-aged disabled people struggled to pay for essentials like food and heating.

Read our full findings