Cost of living for certain poor people will be wildly in excess of 10%

The following applies to the UK where I live.

I read the following article regarding yesterday's spring statement (mini-budget) by the chancellor. 

The article reports Paul Johnson, who is the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank, as saying:

[Those dependent on benefits will see] [t]heir benefits [rising by] just 3.1% for the coming financial year. Their cost of living could well rise by 10%.

This is simply not correct, their cost of living will rise vastly more than just 10%.

Let's take, for example, those under 25 years old who claim universal credit. According to this website, currently it's £257.33 per month or £3,087.96 a year.

Now the energy price cap is going up by 54% in a week's time (from the 1st April 2022). For an average property, this is an increase of £693 from £1,277 to £1,971.

Let's assume that only energy has/will increase in price (we'll ignore the price increases in food over the past year etc). So, in order to have the same purchasing power, their original £3,087.96 a year, will need to increase by £693. £3,087.96 + £693 = £3,780.96.

To have the same purchasing power expressed as a percentage (and don't forget, only taking into account energy price increases) it'll be £3,780.96 divided by £3,087.96 = 1.2244.  Therefore a 22.4% increase in their benefits will be required for the same purchasing power simply considering energy price increases alone. Comparable figures can be derived for the over 25's who claim universal credit.

If we then also take into account the considerable increase in price for food and petrol, then perhaps a ballpark figure of something like a 30% increase in their income is required for those on such benefits to have the same purchasing power.  This, of course, is much higher than the current inflation rate of 6.2% and higher still than the 3.1% increase they will actually be getting.  The fact that this 30% figure is so much higher than the inflation rate reflects the fact that a vastly higher proportion of poor people's incomes are being spent on energy, which has undergone mind-blowing price increases in recent months and will continue to do so.

I see this whole situation as calamitous and cannot imagine what will happen to the poorest people in our society in the coming months (not just those on benefits).   

Incidentally, after typing the above, I realised I talk about the very same Paul Johnson here!