Families face winter fuel poverty

More than half NI families face fuel poverty

Thousands of children may be living in fuel poverty this winter and a leading charity wants assembly members to adopt a strategy to tackle the issue.

Save the Children says almost 50% of families with children in Northern Ireland could be in fuel poverty.

The charity is to present its research into the problem to assembly members at Stormont later.

It will also warn them that higher fuel prices could lead to health problems for many families.

The charity report said that 27% of families were living in fuel poverty in 2006 and, when the rise in energy prices is factored in, that rises to 50%.

'Highest'

Save the Children commissioned Christine Liddell, Professor of Psychology at the University of Ulster, to write the report.

She described the fuel poverty rate among families with children in Northern Ireland as "one of the highest in the developed world" with lone-parent families hardest hit.

"The most up-to-date statistics we have from 2006 show that there were more than 50,000 households in Northern Ireland that were cold, damp and unsuitable for the children who lived in them," Professor Liddell said.

"But we believe that in the intervening two years, this figure could have almost doubled.

"The biggest driver of increases in fuel poverty rates is the cost of domestic heating and while domestic energy prices fell by 2% in 2007, they rose by 27% between January and September of this year.

Families are said to be in fuel poverty if their home has to be heated to reach temperatures recommended by the World Health Organisation and if the cost of heating is 10% or more of the household's income.

The WHO recommends that living-room temperatures should be 21C and 18C in bedrooms.