Rising fuel prices combined with the ongoing cost of living crisis could leave thousands of children in poverty struggling this winter, campaigners have warned.

The OFGEM price cap was raised once again in October, meaning the typical household energy bill will be £1,717.

National Energy Action estimates that around 20% of households in the UK, close to six million, are in fuel poverty.

In Scotland that is defined as households which have to spend 10% or more of their income to maintain satisfactory heating and have a remaining income 90% or below the UK minimum income standards.

In 2022, 31% of households met that definition, with 18.5% in extreme fuel poverty, which is when a household has to spend 20% or more of its adjusted net income on heating - 89% of households with an annual income less than £15,000 were in fuel poverty.

Those numbers have risen in recent years with the increase in energy costs, with extreme fuel poverty rising from 12.4% to 18.5%.

(Image: Scottish Government)

Energy suppliers are permitted under OFGEM rules to forcibly move customers onto more expensive pre-payment tariffs if they fall behind on their bills, while the companies are also permitted to deduct arrears from benefits at source.

A YouGov poll conducted for the children's charity Barnardos revealed last month that 33% of parents had cut back to save money on energy bills.

Caroline, a mother of four whose income support can be as low as £85 per fortnight due to deductions including council tax arrears, said in a research paper published by Morag Treanor: “I was supposed to give a meter reading ten days ago and I still haven’t done it, because I’m just terrified of what it’s going to say. Then you’ve got to pay it and I don’t have the money to pay it.

“My son’s had bronchitis twice this year, hospitalised once. He’s only five months old.

“I suffer anxiety and have coeliac disease. I should be on a gluten free diet but can’t afford it.

"I eat the kids’ leftovers. As long as they’re fed, I don’t care. I drink a lot of tea because that fills you up a bit.

“My hair has been falling out the last couple of months. It is coming out in clumps.”

Research into the impact of fuel poverty on households with children shows a range of negative outcomes.

A study in the U.S looked at five cities and compared two groups of children from low-income families.

One group lived in families which received a winter fuel subsidy, the other was a similar group who did not.

The results showed infants in the latter group were 30% more likely to be admitted to hospital or primary care clinics in the first three years of life, and 29% more likely to be underweight.

The study followed the infants into childhood, and discovered that those not receiving the winter fuel subsidy consumed 10% fewer calories than those in the other group during winter months, with parents choosing between heating and eating.

Another study of 14,000 English children by the National Centre for Social Research found 15% of children who lived in a cold home for three or more years experienced respiratory problems, compared to 7% in energy efficient homes.

The same study concluded that issues like truancy and early tobacco and alcohol use were closely linked to fuel poverty, and that 28% of adolescents who had lived for long periods in poorly heated homes were at significant mental health risk compared to 4% of similar children in adequately heated homes.

Coll McCail, who organised the Power To The People campaign amidst the 2022 energy price spiral, said: "The Labour Government’s scandalous decision to means test the Winter Fuel Payment has focused attention on the relationship between pensioner poverty and energy prices. The reality, however, is that the scourge of fuel poverty does not discriminate by age. Indeed, some four million children in the UK are being raised in fuel poverty.

"Only this week, a new report found that 28% of kids who live in cold and damp homes are at serious risk of developing anxiety and depression.

"Across Britain, the lives of young people, just like pensioners, are afterthoughts for an energy system whose priority is profit. Cold homes for kids are fine for as long as Centrica, Shell and Scottish Power make millions.

"Meanwhile, Britain’s continued dependence on fossil fuels and the absence of a ‘just’ transition worthy of the name, ensures increased danger to the planet our children stand to inherit. 

"Politicians are failing young people in the present and auctioning their futures to the fossil fuel industry. This Labour Government promised ‘change’. The public, be they pensioners or school pupils, are waiting."