Authors: Sara Davies and David Collings
Funded by: Fair By Design
Published by: Fair By Design
Publication date: February 2021

People on low incomes and with certain protected characteristics are more likely to be paying extra costs for essentials such as electricity, gas, credit, and insurance. This is the case even when compared with low income households as a whole. The findings from this research suggest that the UK marketplace is discriminating against groups of people, albeit indirectly.

We already know that some protected characteristics are linked to an increased risk of poverty, and people’s resilience is further affected by having to pay a premium for being poor. Intersectionality also plays a large role: the more protected characteristics a person has, the more likely they are to be in poverty – and paying a poverty premium.