With the Warm Front energy help scheme already receiving a frosty reception and the cost of raising a child skyrocketing to £218,000, many families will be questioning how they will make ends meet this January.
Among those concerns facing Brits this winter will be ensuring that they can keep their families warm.
However, with the overall costs of childrearing increasing by 3.3 per cent in a year and 76 per cent of parents making cutbacks to family budgets, it can seem as though a solution is out of reach.
What's more, two in five parents have reduced the amount they regularly save and only 32 per cent have life cover, figures from Liverpool Victoria reveal, leaving them vulnerable to financial shocks.
Louise Colley, head of protection sales and marketing at Aviva, explained: "While average incomes have increased over the past year, the prices of essential goods and services have also increased, meaning that families are struggling to keep up.
"Many appear to have acclimatised to this economic environment by shopping around and seeking to minimise their spending in certain areas."
However, she said that simultaneously "there are still a worrying number of families with insufficient savings or large debts".
What's more, government schemes to help those most vulnerable to heat their home are proving lack-lustre.
Consumer Focus and National Energy Action have warned that the government's Warm Front policy is set for up to a £30 million under-spend in 2012, meaning families and older adults will be missing out on heating and insulation to keep their homes warm.
It is expected that up to a fifth of the scheme's £142 million of funding will go unclaimed, which was designated to help up to 16,000 households to cut their energy bills by approximately £650 per year.
This has been attributed to stricter eligibility criteria, poor marketing, milder weather and a low-number of referrals.
