The Joseph Rowntree Foundation published an energy price analysis on 17 July 2022, examining the July 2022 Ofgem price cap and new Cornwall Insight forecasts1. The briefing was written by Peter Matejic and sits within the foundation's cost of living work1.
The central finding concerns the share of household income going to gas and electricity. The foundation said low income families will hand over 26% of their income after housing costs in 2023/24 to pay for gas and electricity, compared with just 12% two years previously1. Middle income families will use 11% of their income meeting the same costs, a rise from 4%1.
"low income families will hand over 26% of their income after housing costs in 2023/24 to pay for gas and electricity"
The briefing is described as an analysis of the July 2022 Ofgem price cap and new Cornwall Insight forecasts1. A spreadsheet of the underlying figures accompanies it1. The published page does not set out the level of the July 2022 cap itself, the size of the Cornwall Insight forecasts, or the assumptions behind the income shares; those details have not been reported in the material published alongside the briefing1.
| Household group | Share of income after housing costs spent on gas and electricity, 2023/24 | Two years previously |
|---|---|---|
| Low income families | 26% | 12% |
| Middle income families | 11% | 4% |
Why it matters for households
The figures describe how far energy costs reach into a household budget once housing is paid for, which is the money actually available for everything else. A rise from 12% to 26% for low income families means roughly a quarter of that remaining income is absorbed by gas and electricity, leaving less room to absorb further movement in energy bills and the price cap.
For a home's energy independence, the practical question is how much of its running cost is exposed to wholesale prices and the cap cycle rather than to the fabric of the building or its own generation. The briefing measures the income side of that exposure, not the physical side. It does not report consumption levels, insulation, heating systems or any generation, so it does not show whether the households concerned have any means of reducing the volume of energy they buy. The price cap history sets the unit rates those shares are calculated against, and the official energy statistics publications carry the consumption and price data that sit behind them.
The comparison between the two household groups is also a measure of how unevenly the same cost lands. Both groups saw their share rise, but the low income group's share is more than double the middle income group's, and its increase was larger in percentage point terms1.
What happens next
The briefing looks ahead to 2023/24, so the income shares it gives are projections rather than outturns1. No further publication date or update to the analysis is given on the page1.