Charity warns North East families will be 'devastated' by looming cost of living crisis
Video report by Katie Cole
A mum in Gateshead has told ITV News Tyne Tees she doesn't know how her family is going to survive, as heating costs are set to soar.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is warning many families in the North East, like Katherine Nicholson's, could be 'devastated' by a looming cost of living crisis.The charity has found that households around the country on lower incomes will be spending an average of 18% more of their wage on energy bills after April.
Katherine, from Blaydon, expects her bills to double. Her son Jamie has cerebral palsy and needs to have the heating on to help with his circulation.
She told ITV News Tyne Tees: "We are going to be struggling, really struggling come April.
"I just don't know how we're going to survive.
"It always affects the people who are most vulnerable."
Katherine says her family will have to choose between food and fuel, and thinks she will have to turn to food banks
From April, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation expects:
A Government Spokesperson said: "We recognise the pressures people are facing on their household bills, which is why we have taken decisive steps to support them.
"The Energy Price Cap has been protecting around 15 million households from high global gas prices. We are also supporting vulnerable and low-income households with the cost of fuel bills through schemes such as the Warm Home Discount and our £500m Household Support Fund.
"Working families on Universal Credit are already seeing more money in their pockets, with an average of £1,000 more a year, and we're increasing the living wage again in April. We will continue to look closely at the pressures facing people and what further measures might be needed on abating high energy costs."