Water poverty and the 2020 water affordability review

affordability water water poverty

Water is unquestionably essential to all aspects of life, and so it is vitally important that all households are supported to ensure they have access to safe, clean and affordable water – something which the United Nations recognise as a human right. Although access issues to safe and clean water are rare in the UK, unfortunately, affordability issues are not.

The longer-term financial impacts of the Covid-19 crisis are now starting to be realised. In a relatively short space of time, households previously managing their finances now find themselves in a wilderness of debt, struggling and spiralling deeper and deeper into difficulty. Finances have been hit hard and hit quickly, and no-one knows when their situation might improve.

Since March 2019, NEA has been working to raise awareness of water poverty in the UK, seeking to align the policy and practical action required to support water poor households, with the goal of eradication by 2030. Our work programme is built on four key pillars: