Families are bracing for less and less money to get by as energy bills rise this spring. In the fifth richest country in the world, pensioners are skipping meals so they can afford their heating bills, and parents are only switching the heating on when their children are at home. At the same time, fossil fuel companies like BP and Shell made their biggest profit in years.

What do these two things have to do with each other? Why are energy bills soaring? And what can the government do to make sure everyone can afford to heat their homes?

We’re no longer the Weekly Economics Podcast because episodes will now be coming to you every fortnight. But as always we’ll be discussing the more important economic issues with a variety of interesting voices.

For the first episode of the New Economics Podcast, Ayeisha is joined by Dr Joseph Baines, senior lecturer in international political economy at King’s College London and Abby Jitendra, principal policy manager on energy at Citizens Advice.

-If you're worried about paying your energy bills, you can get in touch with Citizens Advice on their website: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

-To get involved in NEF’s campaign to retrofit Britain’s cold and draughty homes, head over to the Great Homes Upgrade website: https://greathomesupgrade.org/

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Researched by Margaret Welsh. Produced by Becky Malone.

Music by Bobby Richards and Poddington Bear under Creative Commons license.

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The New Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org