Cost of living becomes second most commonly cited reason for debt among StepChange clients

StepChange Debt Charity said an increase in the cost of living became the second most commonly cited reason for debt among its new clients in May 2022, cited by around one in six (16%) of them, behind a lack of control of finances at 18%¹. The charity published the figures in its monthly client data report for May 2022¹.

More than 14,000 new clients received full debt advice in May, up from around 12,500 in April 2022 and around 12,000 in May 2021¹. The charity said the proportion of clients behind on gas (23%) or electricity (28%) bills remained high relative to previous years, but that it was yet to see a substantial increase in the proportion of clients behind on those types of arrears¹. Average electricity arrears rose by £44 between April (£1,198) and May (£1,242)¹.

Web visits for information about government help with electricity and gas bills rose by 54% between April and May, which the charity said perhaps provided an early indication of the impact of the energy price cap rise¹. The emergency funding webpage remained the most visited debt information page¹.

The proportion of clients in receipt of Universal Credit (33%) and the proportion with a negative budget (31%) were fairly similar to previous months, though the negative budget figure was two percentage points higher than the previous year (29% in May 2021)¹. Single parents, renters, younger age groups and women continued to be over-represented among new debt advice clients¹.

Later research published by the University of Bristol in October 2025, covering three years of StepChange client data from 2022 to 2024, found a cost of living increase was the most common reason for debt in 2024, cited by 21% of new clients, and that 170,928 clients completed a full debt advice session that year². It also reported that around 170,000 clients had energy arrears between 2022 and 2024, and that 22,500 said they were referred to StepChange by their energy supplier². The two sets of figures cover different periods and are not directly comparable.

Why it matters for households

The May 2022 figures describe who was seeking debt advice and why, at a point when the energy price cap was rising. Households behind on electricity and gas bills owed more on average in May than in April, and the charity's own web traffic suggests more people were looking for information on government help with energy bills¹. The charity noted that the share of clients behind on energy arrears had not yet risen substantially, even as average arrears amounts edged up¹.

For anyone in problem debt, Breathing Space is a government scheme in England and Wales offering relief from interest payments, fees and court action for up to 60 days, with applications submitted by a debt adviser³. Scotland has a debt moratorium instead, and Northern Ireland is developing a local debt respite scheme³. StepChange said an extra £12 million was found for its clients using its benefits calculator in 2024³.

What happens next

StepChange publishes monthly client data reports, so figures for the months after May 2022 are reported separately¹. The University of Bristol report set out longer-term ambitions and quick wins for energy suppliers and debt advice providers, including pausing collection activities while a customer seeks debt advice, and called for HM Treasury to review the statutory Breathing Space scheme².