Background
Our latest research reveals that that 1.2 million people in the UK live in appliance poverty.
An estimated 480,000 households, or 1.2 million people, in the UK are in appliance poverty; they are living without a washing machine or fridge/freezer, or both – appliances that many of us take for granted. Of these, 53,000 households, or 130,000 people, are living without both a washing machine and a fridge/freezer.
Using HM Treasury guidance to calculate wellbeing in monetary terms, these results suggest the monetary value of wellbeing improvements arising from gaining large essential appliances in the home could be as much as £6.7 billion.
Here at ACO we know that all too often, people living in poverty find their existing economic distress is exacerbated by not having the appliances and equipment needed to live a healthy, hygienic, safe and comfortable everyday life. This new research not only gives us hard evidence linking wellbeing and essential appliances, but helps us understand our impact by expressing the benefits in monetary terms.
We commissioned the research in conjunction with ten of our member charities and Fusion21, and it was completed by respected economic analysts Pro Bono Economics.