Middle-income families will also find it hard to cope with new energy cap in April, says thinktankThe number of households suffering from “fuel stress” – those spending at least 10% of their family budgets on energy bills – is set to treble to 6.3m ove…
World’s 10 richest men see their wealth double during Covid pandemic
Oxfam calls for windfall tax as 99% of world population takes a pay cut while top 10 incomes grow by $1bn a dayCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe 10 richest men in the world have seen their global wealth double to $1.5tn (…
Protecting vulnerable from £700 hike in energy bills means hard choices now | Nils Pratley
The options are unattractive but a massively expanded warm homes scheme gets the vote hereIt’s choose your poison time for a government that must know allowing low-income households to suffer the full blast of the scheduled rise in energy bills in Apri…
‘I’m always tired, Miss’: the sleepless children of Leeds’ bed poverty crisis
Teacher Bex Wilson was shocked to learn a pupil had no bed to sleep in. But this was the tip of the icebergReal heroes don’t wear capes, but they do bring duvets. Such as Bex Wilson and her dad, Mark, who spent the night before Christmas bringing beds …
The night I met Christ at a bus stop in Dalston | Stewart Lee
An awkward encounter led me into a moral maze, with a holy trinity fighting over my Scotch dosh“The poor are always with us. So speaks the man who has not learned to use a whip correctly!” And also thus spake the unsung genius comedian Simon Munnery, i…
200,000 UK children could be made homeless this winter, warns Shelter
Charity says that ‘Thousands of families are teetering on a cliff-edge’ An estimated 200,000 children are at risk of being left homeless this winter, charity Shelter said.A poll carried out by YouGov for Shelter found that 104,000 families in privately…
Camels bearing healthcare deliver hope in Kenya – photo essay
When the roads are not up to it, a mobile clinic on hooves brings family planning and other medical supplies to remote communities. Photographer Ami Vitale visits Lekiji to see how the villagers have reaped the benefitsThirteen camels amble their way a…
The Nigerian fish market where gods and commerce meet
The all-women market appoints a ‘mother of wealth’ to pray for their good fortune – and in this recession-hit country the role is more important than ever Folasade Ojikutu wears a traditional white lace dress for her work at the lagoon dock behind Oluw…
Ignore the buzzwords, the Tories will inflict yet more damage on local services | Frances Ryan
Rishi Sunak will talk about ‘levelling up’, but desperate communities should prepare for more funding cutsWhen Rishi Sunak stands in front of the Commons for the spending review next week, the chancellor will no doubt serve up “build back better” buzzw…
Youth homelessness has risen 40% in five years, says UK charity
Centrepoint estimates 121,000 homeless or at risk, with analysis showing black people disproportionally affectedYouth homeless in the UK has increased by an estimated two-fifths in five years, rising to more than 120,000, a leading charity director has…