Despite measures put in place at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, nearly a year later people are still slipping through the cracks and into poverty.
Figures from the office of national statistics show three quarters of people seeking help with benefits or employment with the Citizens Advice Bureau during the crisis had never contacted the charity before.
Struggling families have contacted the ECHO to tell us about the severe hardships they have faced during the crisis.
One mum spoke of having to wrap her kids in blankets during school zoom lessons because she’s struggling to heat her home.
A project manager for a food bank told us about a man on a zero hours contract who was “horrified” to find himself without any money when he was forced to self-isolate.
In Liverpool over the last nine months, Citizens Advice said they had seen 4,000 more people requesting their help than in the nine months previous to the first national lockdown.
When the pandemic first hit, the charity also saw a 175% increase in employment queries, with more people struggling financially and claiming Universal Credit.
As well as an increase in requests for help from Citizens Advice, Trussell Trust’s UK network of food banks saw a 47% increase during the first six months of the pandemic.
The charity warns these figures are the tip of the iceberg, as many people will have been helped by other community groups.
Figures released by the Trussell Trust in November revealed 2,600 emergency food parcels were provided for children every day on average by food banks in their network during the first six months of the pandemic.
The shocking numbers are an indication of how families are still struggling to buy food and heat their homes despite Government’s schemes which include suspending evictions, providing grants and loans as well as a £20 increase to Universal Credit Payments.
In an effort to find out who is at danger of falling into poverty brought about by the health crisis, we spoke to charities and the people who have relied on them during the pandemic to find out why.
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Tim Bleazard, 56, is the project manager of Skelmersdale and district food bank.
He told the ECHO: “We've seen a massive increase on the number of families that are in food poverty that have absolutely nothing.
“Previous to the pandemic, people seemed to be able to plan forward a bit better. They would predict they would run out of food and get a voucher so they didn't have empty cupboards.
“We're getting a lot of phone calls at the moment from people saying they're in dire straits right now.
“One client we went to a few weeks ago - he had a job but on a zero hours contract and was told he had to isolate because he had come into contact with somebody who had the virus.
“He didn't get paid while isolating. And then while he still had a job he didn't have the money to pay for fuel to get to work - he was literally penniless and had no way of earning some money.
“He was horrified at being in the position and very emotional about it.”
Tim said new requests for help from the food bank had come from many people who have been furloughed on 80% of their wages as they were only just getting by when their wages were 100%.
He added: “We're seeing a lot of the reasons coming to us are about fuel poverty as well.
“They have had the dilemma of paying for heating the house or buying food and it's easier to get help with food than get somebody to pay for your heating.
“We used to have a principle that if people came to us more than three times in a six month period we would want to make sure they were getting the support.
“Now, we're helping people who are coming back to us again and again because they can't get the support to help them get out of the hole they're in.”
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Mirroring the dire circumstances people are increasingly finding themselves explained by Tim, one mum of four got in touch to tell us about how much she has struggled.
She said: “We were forced to take out a bank loan at the beginning of the first lockdown just so we could pay our rent - my partner works but was furloughed.
“Now we are in a worse position, my partner has been put on flexi furlough and we aren’t entitled to any help with our rent or free school meals. I’m waiting for access to a food bank.
“The chippy close to us are doing free dinners for kids through the week which is amazing, so they are at least getting a good meal from them.”
Another mum who moved house in September to escape domestic abuse from her partner explained how much she is struggling alone with her four kids in their new home.
She said: “It’s been virtually impossible to manage during lockdown. I have struggled with the cost of food shopping, having four children at home without their hot free school meal.
“But the biggest struggle has been keeping the house warm. We’ve moved to a bigger old fashioned house. My gas and electricity bill this month was £260!
“Having everyone home using the electric and because it was so cold I had been putting the heating on more.
“Usually when the kids are out I just wrap up in blankets and put the heating on when the kids get home from school, but I’ve had it on more with them all being home.
“Since that huge bill we’ve been wearing jumpers, dressing gowns and have been wrapped up in blankets too. It's not really nice when your kids go on zoom lessons for school wrapped in a blanket because it’s so b****y cold!”
Carol Johnson-Eyre, chief executive of Citizens Advice Wirral told us about one case of a self-employed man who lost his income and his home right at the beginning of the pandemic and spent the next nine months living in his van.
This, she said, was not unusual when it comes to the cases she has faced during the crisis from people who were contacting Citizens Advice every day.
She acknowledges while some of the Government’s measures helped many people, there were still a significant number who fell through the cracks and had to turn to the charity when they struggled to find help elsewhere.
From self-employed people who were unable to get help having not registered enough tax the previous year, to families who were just about coping with their levels of debt pre-pandemic, Carol said there are many people who have not been covered by the Government's schemes.
If you're struggling, advice on a range of issues can be found on the Citizens Advice website.
What the charity now wants to see from the Government, to ensure even more people don’t succumb to poverty this year, is to secure the £20 rise to Universal Credit that was started during the pandemic.
The Trussell trust also want to see more people hold on to more of their benefits by suspending debt reductions until a fairer approach to repayments can be introduced.
Carol added: “We've had a real big increase in people contacting us since the beginning of this year and the latest lockdown.
“We're predicting we'll see more people as the evictions start again and once the furlough scheme does end a lot of people will be made redundant and in need of advice to manage their debt.
“We're looking post-pandemic as well as to what we call the economic injury of Covid.
“The debts people will have built up by having no or massively reduced pay. All those things that will impact one year, two years later.”
