Dennis Moore
Britain’s leading end of life charity, Marie Curie paints a terrible picture of over 100,000 people in the UK dying in poverty every year.
The report, “Dying in Poverty 2024”, centres on data collated from the year 2023 carried out by academic researchers at Loughborough University’s Centre for Research in Social Policy.
In 2021, the Marie Curie charity first commissioned the research team to examine the number of people who die in poverty in the UK that led to a landmark report, “Dying in Poverty in 2022”. The current research has been updated and includes analysis as to those in the study who are experiencing fuel poverty.
The latest data for the year 2023 estimates that 110,000 people (300 a day) died in poverty in the UK—representing 18 percent of all those that died in that year—and an increase of almost 20,000 people and 2.5 percentage points since 2019.
The data shows sharp disparities in those affected based on race, gender, age and where in the UK somebody lives.
People of working age are at much greater risk of dying in poverty, with 28 percent of people dying in poverty compared to 16 percent of people of pensioner age. The vast majority of the working aged population who die have also experienced poverty at some point in the last five years of their lives.
Women are more likely to die in poverty than men and, in the year 2023, 29.5 percent of working age women died in poverty, compared to 25.4 percent of men.
Ethnic minority groups are more likely to be in poverty, often having experienced poverty throughout their lives. Poverty rates amongst Bangladeshi households are estimated to be as high as 53 percent, with these households relying on benefits (other than the state pension) representing 20 percent of their income compared to 7 percent of white households.
Based on ethnicity, 25 percent of white working aged people between ages 20-64 died in poverty compared to a staggering 47 percent of black people, 43 percent of Asian people and 37 percent of those of mixed race or having another ethnicity.
A major contributory factor for those of working age who are terminally ill is the loss of income, often having to reduce working hours or leave work all together. This impacts other people living in the same household who may have to reduce their working hours or leave work to become carers.
A rise in poverty at the end of life is also determined by the person’s age. State pensioner benefits are normally paid at a higher rate than out of work state benefits to someone under state pension age. For those claimants of working age who become unwell and must claim Universal Credit or New Style Employment Support Allowance there can be a number of financial disadvantages.
Marie Curie have suggested that for those with less than a year to live who are under the state pension age, benefits should be paid as an entitlement, equivalent to the state pension. The costs to the Treasury would be minimal, accounting for only 0.1 percent of overall state pension spending. At present thousands of people are dying without claiming their state pension they have contributed to throughout their lives.
Across the UK the rates of poverty amongst those living with an end of life diagnosis are not equal. Poverty rates in the North East of England stood at 34 percent, 50 percent higher than areas with the lowest rates of end of life poverty.
Middlesborough had the highest rate of working age people dying in poverty at 44.5 percent, followed by Manchester in the North West at 42.3 percent and Birmingham at 39.9 percent.
The local authority of Bradford in the north of England had the fourth highest level of poverty, with more than a third of working age people living in poverty when they died.
Marie Curie states that the UK every year there are 14 million people—equivalent to one in five—living in poverty at any one time. Another assessment of poverty in Britain, published last year by the Social Metrics Commission, concluded that “At 24%, the poverty rate is now the highest it has been in the 21st Century. It means that 16 million people in the UK are living in families in poverty.”
The fall into poverty is made a lot worse for those with a terminal illness. Many of the these include families who would previously have described themselves as comfortable.
Researchers were specifically asked who dies in fuel poverty. Having a terminal illness can increase fuel costs markedly due to having to run medical equipment, maintain body temperature, and spending more time at home.
Though energy bills have come down slightly since 2022, energy prices are still not at pre-COVID pandemic levels and bills are still high. The cost of electricity for residential consumers in Britain are still some of the highest in the world. Yet the August 2024 interim results showed that profits for the energy companies amounted to over £457 billion since just before the energy crisis started. £61 billion was posted in profits in 2024 alone.
Marie Curie have reported that energy bills can rise by 75 percent following a terminal illness diagnosis, with running an oxygen concentrator costing £65 a month, a dialysis machine £27 a month, and a ventilator £35 a month.
84 percent of Marie Curie staff who have been caring for patients report that their patients have been struggling with the cost of energy.
The Motor Neurone Disease Association found that some people living with this condition spend more than £10,000 a year alone to power devices.
Previous research carried out by Marie Curie highlighted the inconsistency and unavailability of rebate schemes for the running of medical devices, putting individuals who are dying under massive financial stress.
Not being able to afford fuel costs forcing the seriously ill to make potentially life threatening decisions, cutting back on spending on essentials such as food and heating or rationing the use of their prescribed equipment.
The highest rates of deaths in fuel poverty in England for people under the age of 65 were in London, 25.7 percent compared to 17.9 percent in the wider generally more affluent South East of England.
For those of pension age living in fuel poverty in the last year of their lives, London stood at 25.6 percent. But this figure was even higher in Northern Ireland where 27.2 percent died in fuel poverty compared to 16.3 percent in the South East of England.
Following a freedom of information request last year Marie Curie revealed that the Labour Party’s savage cut to the winter fuel payments will leave 44,000 terminally ill pensioners without the much needed payment worth up to £300. Marie Curie are calling for the winter fuel payment to be paid to all those with a terminal illness.
No comments:
Post a Comment