Energy bills set to cost more than two months’ wages next year, warns TUC

Energy bills are now expected to cost more than two months of average take-home pay in 2023, unless the government intervenes, according to a report.

Average take home pay after tax will be £2,054 a month in 2023, so two months’ worth will be less than the £4,200 predicted cost of energy bills per household, said the TUC. The latest forecast is even more grim, predicting bills will hit £5000.

Read more: Energy bills: Boris Johnson's 'zombie government' fails to offer new support

The union body is calling for a series of measures, including stopping the October energy price cap increase, bringing forward the annual increase in the national minimum wage from next April to October, and funding pay rises for public sector workers that keep up with inflation.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “No one should struggle to get by in one of the richest countries in the world.

“But up and down the country, millions of families are being pushed to the brink by eyewatering energy bills. With prices set to skyrocket even further, it’s time to say enough is enough.

“Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak need to wake up to the size of this crisis. This requires a pandemic-scale intervention.

Johnson has been accused of going "missing" and running a "zombie government" as the country hurtles towards a recession.

Read more: Energy bills could hit £5,000 next year, experts warn

Crisis talks with energy bosses ended with no new measures to help with soaring energy bills as Boris Johnson insists that it is up to his successor to “make significant fiscal decisions”.

O’Grady added that without a long-term plan to prevent a similar living standards emergency, the country will keep “lurching from crisis to crisis”.

The TUC called on ministers to consult with trade union and business leaders to devise an urgent response to the crisis.

Watch: Why are gas prices rising