The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) published an energy price analysis on 18 March 2022, examining the March 2022 Ofgem price cap alongside new Cornwall Insight figures. The foundation said the analysis shows the impact of rising energy costs on household budgets, and that its findings hold even once the support package announced the previous month is taken into account1.
The headline figures cover low-income households after housing costs are paid. JRF found that £1 in every £5 from low-income family budgets could go on energy costs in 2022, that single adults on low incomes could spend 49 per cent of their incomes on energy, and that the average low-income family faces an extra £850 on its annual energy bill1.
"The analysis shows the impact of rising energy costs on household budgets."
The analysis was written by Peter Matejic and published under the foundation's cost of living topic. A spreadsheet of the underlying report data was made available alongside the published analysis1.
| JRF finding, March 2022 | Figure |
|---|---|
| Share of low-income family budgets that could go on energy | £1 in every £5 |
| Share of income single adults on low incomes could spend on energy | 49% |
| Extra annual energy bill for the average low-income family | £850 |
The figures are stated as applying once housing costs are paid, and as applying even with the support package announced in February 20221. The analysis does not set out a breakdown of that support package, and no further detail on how the £850 and 49 per cent figures were calculated appears in the published summary1.
Why it matters for households
The JRF numbers describe energy costs as a share of what is left after rent or a mortgage is paid, which is the money a household actually has available for energy bills and the price cap and everything else. On that basis, the March 2022 cap level and the forward prices Cornwall Insight was projecting at the time were enough to push energy to a fifth of a low-income family's remaining budget, and close to half of a single low-income adult's income1.
For a household, that share is the practical measure of energy independence: how much of its own income it controls once the standing charges, unit rates and levies on a bill are settled. The JRF analysis was published against the price cap history rather than against a household's own consumption, so the figures are averages and modelled cases, not a prediction for any one home. A household's own bill depends on how much it uses and how it pays, which is why a bill can sit above or below the cap figure itself.
What happens next
No next steps are set out in the published analysis. The report data spreadsheet remains the only additional material listed alongside it1.