Cymraeg

Citizens Advice charities have been writing to parliamentary candidates to draw attention to The National Red Index, a groundbreaking report from Citizens Advice that shows how almost 5 million people across the country are now in a household with a negative budget, including 1.5 million children. A further 2 million people are living on empty – cutting essential spending to unsafe levels, just to get by. 

For the first time, Citizens Advice has combined detailed data from more than 300,000 people who have come to us for debt advice with national survey data from the ONS, to provide a comprehensive analysis of the scale and impact of negative budgets for millions of struggling households. 

Our data shows:

• Over the course of this financial year, unless incomes go up or costs come down, households in a negative budget will face a shortfall in their budget of more than £4,200 each. Without government action, over 250 people across Britain are falling into a negative budget every day
• The problem is deepening – the average monthly deficit for a negative budget household has gone from -£270 in 2019/20 to -£365 in 2023/24.
• Negative budgets are more widespread amongst already marginalised groups; with 1 in 5 single parent households, nearly 1 in 10 households with a disabled person, and 13% of mixed race households and 11% of Black and Black British households in a negative budget.

Across Gwynedd almost 6% of households are living on a negative budget.

In the new constituency of Bangor Aberconwy 64% of people said that the cost of living or living standards was one of the most important issues in determining how they will vote and 81% said that negative budgets are an important issue.

In the new constituency of Dwyfor Meirionnydd 70% of people said that the cost of living or living standards was one of the most important issues in determining how they will vote and 81% said that negative budgets are an important issue.

Giving security to the millions living on empty will be a generational challenge, but through our modelling of negative budgets we’ve identified a package of measures that any government could start implementing straight away to lift 1.1 million people out of a negative budget:

1. Legislate to uprate working-age benefits using inflation data from the Household Costs Indices, so they better reflect the true cost of living for low-income households. 
2. Keep increasing the national minimum wage so more people in work can be lifted out of a negative budget.
3. Improve energy bill support by expanding eligibility for the Warm Home Discount and increasing support for those with the greatest energy needs.
4. Ensure affordable access to essential markets through social tariffs for water, broadband and motor insurance.  
5. Reform the Local Housing Allowance so it better supports people with high private rent costs.

We are asking whichever candidates are elected to prioritise these actions. A summary of the research is available here.