Energy bills set to eat up 10% of average UK salary from April, warns TUC

Energy bills in the UK will eat up 10% of the average salary starting this April, according to new analysis released by the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

The TUC report highlights that the average energy bill will rise to £250 a month, which is equivalent to a tenth of the UK average monthly salary.

This is more than double the amount workers were paying in March 2022 when average energy bills were £107 a month or 4% of the UK average monthly salary.

Low-income earners are being hit hardest by skyrocketing energy prices, according to the report.

The analysis shows that a full-time minimum wage worker will face bills worth 16% of their monthly salary when the price cap is raised in April, up from 8% in March 2022.

The TUC is calling for urgent action to help bring down bills and boost wages in next month’s budget.

The union body today repeated its calls for a higher windfall tax on big oil and gas companies and urged ministers to end “Britain’s living standards nightmare.”

The TUC believes that years of wage stagnation have left millions of households badly exposed to rising prices.

TUC analysis published in January shows that UK workers have lost £20,000, on average, in real wages since 2008 as a result of pay not keeping up with inflation, the equivalent of £1,450 a year. By 2025, the loss will total £24,000.

TUC General Secretary, Paul Nowak, said: “The government must cancel its imminent hike in household energy bills at next month’s budget.”

“Families across Britain are being pushed to the brink by sky-high bills.”

“That means imposing a larger windfall tax on greedy oil and gas suppliers.”

“And it means boosting wages across the economy.”

Nowak added that “the UK workers are on course for two decades of lost pay.”

“This has left millions brutally exposed to soaring prices. Unless we get wages rising, working people will just keep lurching from crisis to crisis.”

The TUC believes that the UK energy market has become “a racket” with oil and gas firms making billions in profits while families struggle to heat their homes.

The TUC is calling for public ownership of energy to help bring down bills and fund investment in home insulation.

The big energy retail companies should be nationalised, alongside an expansion of public clean power generation.

On the need to reform the energy market, Nowak added: “Private energy firms are getting away with treating households like cash machines.”

“While millions struggle to heat their homes, they are coining it in. Our energy market has become a racket.”

“It’s time to bring companies back into public ownership.”

“Privatisation has been a disaster for hard-pressed households.”

“The only real winners have been shareholders who have creamed off hundreds of millions in dividends.”

“That’s why the TUC is calling for the government to set up a public energy company to lower bills.”

It remains to be seen what measures the UK government will take to address the concerns raised by the TUC, but it is clear that action is needed to help working families cope with the rising cost of living.