Use the interactive tool below to navigate indicators that show how poverty and inequality affects working-age adults in London.
19-year-olds without Level 2 or Level 3 qualifications (2004/05-2022/23)
This indicator was last updated in June 2024. It is now archived and will no longer be updated. Explore London’s Poverty Profile to view our up to date indicators. If you have any questions, get in touch.
What does this indicator show?
This indicator looks at the proportion of 19 year olds without qualifications in Inner and Outer London, as well as the rest of England. We can see this for both Level 2 (equivalent to GCSEs) and Level 3 (equivalent of A Levels) qualifications.
What does it tell us?
Qualification levels of 19-year-olds have significantly improved over time. This is particularly evident in Inner London where the proportion of 19-year-olds without Level 3 qualifications (A Levels and equivalents) has fallen from 61.1% in 2004/05 to 30.7% in 2022/23. However, the COVID-19 pandemic could have had an impact on the last two years, w…
Level 3 attainment gap between Free School Meals and non-Free School Meals students at 19 years-of-age (2004/05-2022/23)
Last updated: June 2024
Next estimated update: June 2025
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the attainment gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students in Inner and Outer London, as well as the rest of England.
The attainment gap shows how many more students who weren’t disadvantaged gained Level 3 qualifications (equivalent to A Levels) than those who were disadvantaged. For this indicator, someone is counted as disadvantaged if they were eligible for Free School Meals at the end of Key Stage 4.
At the bottom of the page we can see how the attainment gap differs across London boroughs.
What does it tell us?
The attainment gap is lower in Inner London than in Outer London and lower in Outer London than it is in the rest of England.
In Inner London in 2022/23, disadvantaged students were less likely to have gained Level 3 …
Pandemic Claimant Count Change: Baseline and Increase Levels (2020-21)
Key findings
- Every area has seen an increase in claims
- Average threefold increase
- Significant increase in areas with historically high levels of employment (shown in orange)
- Areas with higher numbers of food service, transportation and hospitality workers hit hard (east Newham, north Brent, south Waltham Forest and south Hillingdon)
Every area has seen an increase in the claimant count, with the average being almost a tripling across the 14 month period. The size of the increase, however, is uneven. While some areas have historically had high unemployment levels, other areas with traditionally high levels of employment have seen substantial increases, well over and above the London average, while others have been less impacted.
The first map above shows the size of the increase in each of London's ~4800 small statistical areas (LSOAs) and whet…
Child dependency ratio by area over time (2000-2035)
This indicator was last updated in March 2024. It is now archived and will no longer be updated. Explore London’s Poverty Profile to view our up to date indicators. If you have any questions, get in touch.
This indicator shows how many children (aged 0-15) there are for every 100 working-age people (16-64). It is an indication of how many under 16s working-age people need to support.
The child dependency ratio in the rest of England is higher compared to Inner London, but lower compared to Outer London.
In 2022, there were 31.4 children for every 100 working-age adults within Outer London. This figure is both higher than the child dependency ratio in Inner London (22.7 children per 100 working-age adults) and the rest of England (29.8 children per 100 working-age adults).
Inner London’s child dependency ratio has fallen significantly since t…
Destinations of KS5 school leavers in London, after two terms (2021/22)
This indicator was last updated in March 2024. It is now archived and will no longer be updated. Explore London’s Poverty Profile to view our up to date indicators. If you have any questions, get in touch.
30% of young people completing KS5 (post-GCSE qualifications) in London in 2021/22 were classed as disadvantaged, compared to 19% in the rest of England.
In London, the most common destination was higher education, with similar numbers of disadvantaged (54%) and non-disadvantaged (57%) students going to university. This is very different from the rest of England, where a lower proportion of people attend higher education overall, and the gap between disadvantaged (30%) and non-disadvantaged (44%) students is much greater.
In London, disadvantaged young people are less likely to enter work (15%, compared to 25% in the rest of England) or b…
Employment rate of 16-64 year olds by highest qualification level (2023)
Last updated: September 2024
Next estimated update: April 2025
What’s this indicator?
This indicator shows the percentage working-age adults in London that are employed, split by their highest qualification level. It shows the employment rate for people:
- With no qualifications
- Whose highest qualification is RQF1 (GCSE grades 3-1, or D to G)
- Whose highest qualification is RQF2 (GCSE grades 9-4 or A* to C)
- Whose highest qualification is RQF3 (A levels and equivalent)
- Whose highest qualification is RQF4+ (apprenticeships, degrees and above)
- With other qualifications (such as those from other countries)
What does it tell us?
Employment rates are, on average, higher amongst people with higher levels of qualifications. For example, in 2023 89% of Londoners aged 16-64 with qualifications higher than A-levels (such as university degrees) were employed comp…
Fuel poverty rates in London and the rest of England (2021)
Last updated: October 2024
Next estimated update: October 2025
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the proportions of households in fuel poverty by age. Households are split by the age of the oldest person in the household.
A household in England is defined as being in fuel poverty if it is in a property rated D or worse for energy efficiency, and its disposable income (that is, its remaining income after housing and energy costs are paid) is below the poverty line (60% of the national median income).
What does it tell us?
Just over one in ten London households (10.8%) are considered to be living in fuel poverty. This is slightly lower than 13.5% in the rest of England. This is likely to be due to a combination of factors. For example, houses in London tend to have smaller floor areas. This is likely to contribute to lower fue…
Actual weekly hours by gross weekly pay quintile across Q2 - Q3 in London and the rest of England (2010-2021)
This indicator was last updated in 2021. It is now archived and will no longer be updated. Explore London’s Poverty Profile to view our up to date indicators. If you have any questions, get in touch.
View all of our work related indicators here.
Looking at hours worked within London and the rest of England can give us a useful insight on our working patterns pre- and post-pandemic. Actual hours worked are heavily impacted by external factors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas usual hours are not expected to change much over the years.
Actual hours worked varied particularly between 2019 and 2020 for the bottom income quintiles within England. Within London, the decline in actual hours worked for the 2nd income quintile is most extreme between 2019 and 2020 - dropping from 36.8 to 25.6 hours per week. For almost all income quintiles, t…
London households affected by the benefit cap (2014 - 2024 Q1)
What does this indicator show?
The benefit cap limits the amount of money that most working-age people can receive from benefits. In Greater London the limit is £25,323 per year or £16,697 for single adults with no children. This was reduced in November 2016, and recently increased in April 2023. The benefit cap is applied by either reducing Universal Credit or Housing Benefit (for those not claiming Universal Credit).
What does it tell us?
More than 27,000 households in London had their income reduced by the benefit cap in February 2024. This has increased by more than 55% since before the pandemic (February 2020). However, the number of households affected by the benefit cap has been steeply reducing since a peak of 61,000 households during the pandemic.
The data refers to the month of February for each year spanning 2014 to 2024, and inc…
Work status of London households (2004-2022)
What does this indicator show?
A household is considered “workless” when at least one member of the household is aged between 16 and 64 and none of its adults are in employment. This indicator shows the proportion of households in London where no adults are in work, and the proportion where some or all adults are in work.
What does it tell us?
In 8% of London’s working age households, no adults are in work. That's 501,000 households across the city. The proportion of workless households has almost halved since 2004 when 15% of households contained nobody in employment. There was a slight increase to 9% in 2021 likely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, before returning to 8% in 2022. This means that in 2022, at least one adult does some work in 92% of working-age households in London.
In 2022, there were over 3.2 million households in Lond…
Work status of London households by net income quintile (2022/23)
Last updated: June 2024
Next estimated update: September 2024
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the work status of London households, split by income quintile. We can use it, for example, what percentage of London households on the lowest 20% of incomes have all adults in full-time employment.
What does it tell us?
This indicator tells us that household work status is closely related to household net incomes. Overall, households with lower net incomes are more likely to include inactive, retired or unemployed adults.
For example, just 8.5% of households on the 20% lowest income live in households where all adults work full time. By contrast 63.3% of those in the top 20% of the net income distribution live in households where all adults work full time.
Nearly one in five of those in the bottom net income quintile live in econ…
Gross household income for small areas (MSOA) (2019/20)
Last updated: August 2024
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the average gross household income (before tax) in each London borough. By clicking on a borough, you can also see the average income in each MSOA. MSOAs are small areas or neighbourhoods, usually of around 2,000-6,000 people.
We can use this to see how income differs across London's boroughs and neighbourhoods, which helps us to understand levels of inequality.
What does it tell us?
By comparing the average household income across London boroughs and neighbourhoods, we can see the level of pay inequality across the capital. For example in Wandsworth, the average household income is £74,000 - more than 60% higher than in Barking and Dagenham (£46,000).
We can also see the level of inequality within boroughs. Although Wandsworth has the highest average income (excludi…
Economic activity status of Londoners aged 16 and over (2024 Q1)
Last updated: August 2024
Next estimated update: November 2024
What’s this?
This indicator shows the labour market activity of all adult Londoners. We can use it to see how many Londoners are employed or not working, and the reasons for not working.
What does it tell us?
More than 4.7 million Londoners – 66% of the adult population – were in work of some kind in the year to March 2024. This is higher than the 60.3% of adults who are employed in the rest of England.
Just over one third of adults in London are classed as economically inactive (34%) - which means they are not employed, and not looking for a job or able to start work. There are many reasons someone might be economically inactive, such as because they are too ill to work, retired, or a student.
See our Reasons for not Working indicator for more detail.
Economic activity status of London men aged 16 and over (2024 Q1)
Last updated: August 2024
Next estimated update: November 2024
What’s this?
This indicator shows the labour market activity of all adult Londoners, split by sex. We can use it to see how many men and women in London are employed or not working, and the reasons for not working.
What does it tell us?
There are over 338,000 more men in work in London than women. Men who live in London are also more likely to be self-employed than women – 14.1% compared to 8.1%.
Women are significantly more likely to be economically inactive than men, with 39.2% of women not working compared to 29.2% of men. For some types of inactivity, women and men have very similar rates, including long-term sickness and temporary sickness.
However, women were significantly more likely to not be working because they were looking after the home or family, with 7.7% of women – …
Life expectancy at birth by borough for men and women (2020 to 2022)
This indicator shows overall life expectancy at birth in each London borough.
Overall life expectancy is consistently higher for women than for men across all London boroughs (2020-2022). The highest life expectancy for women is in Kensington and Chelsea (86.3 years), and in Richmond upon Thames for men (82.4).
The lowest life expectancy for both men and women is in Barking and Dagenham - 76.3 years and 80.4 years respectively.
Healthy life expectancy
Healthy life expectancy is the number of years a person can expect to live in good health rather than with a disability or in poor health.
Although women have a higher life expectancy than men in every borough, in some boroughs men have a longer healthy life expectancy. For example, in Tower Hamlets a man can expect to live 65.3 years in good health, compared to 57.8 years for a woman.
Albeit rec…
Proportion of London residents' jobs paid below London Living Wage by employment type (2005-2023)
This page looks at jobs held by London residents that are paid below the London Living Wage. These jobs may be located within London or outside the capital. For a similar analysis focused on jobs located in London only, please see 'Low-paid jobs in London'.
The London Living Wage was introduced in 2005. It is a voluntary wage rate based on the amount of money that people need to live. The rate in London in April 2023 when the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings we use for this analysis was conducted was £11.95.
The proportion of low-paid jobs held by Londoners has increased slightly in 2023 (16.4%) compared to 2022 (16.2%); this follows a steady decline since 2018 that partially reflects the distorting effects of the pandemic and furlough in the labour market. There had been a continuous rise in the proportion of low-paid jobs over the dec…
Proportion of borough residents' jobs that are paid below London Living Wage (2023)
This page looks at jobs held by borough residents that are paid below the London Living Wage. For jobs located in boroughs, please see 'Low-paid jobs in London', chart four.
The London Living Wage was introduced in 2005. It is a voluntary wage rate based on the amount of money that people need to live. The rate in London in April 2023 when the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings we use for this analysis was conducted was £11.95.
Barking and Dagenham had the highest proportion of residents who were low paid (24.6%) in 2023 followed by Brent (23.3%) and Enfield (22.8%). By contrast Wandsworth (9.7%), Hammersmith and Fulham (9.9%) and Kensington and Chelsea (10%) has the lowest proportion.
Barking and Dagenham also had a significant increase compared to 2022 in the proportion of low-paid residents of 5 percentage points, closely following Bar…
Old-age dependency ratio by area over time (2000-2035)
This indicator was last updated in March 2024. It is now archived and will no longer be updated. Explore London’s Poverty Profile to view our up to date indicators. If you have any questions, get in touch.
This indicator shows how many older people (65+) there are for every 100 working-age adults (16-64). It reflects the level of support working-age people and national and local government might need to provide to those who are retired.
Both Inner and Outer London have a lower old-age dependency ratio than the rest of England. In Inner London in 2022, there were 12.7 people over the age of 65 for every 100 working-age adults. This compares to 21 in Outer London and 32.1 in the rest of England.
Over the next decade, as the population ages, the dependency ratio is projected to increase quite rapidly.
Proportion of Londoners aged 16-64 receiving out-of-work benefits by benefit type (2014-2023 Q4)
Last updated: June 2024
Next estimated update: September 2024
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the proportion of working-age Londoners out-of-work and receiving benefits.
What does it tell us?
13.2% of working-age Londoners are out-of-work and on benefits - a slight increase since last year (12.3%).
The number of out-of-work benefit claimants aged 16-64 jumped in 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, peaking at 14.5% in 2020.
The types of benefits claimed by those out of work has also changed in recent years, as Universal Credit has rolled out across the capital. For example, 0.7% of working-age Londoners were out of work and claiming Universal Credit in 2016. By 2023, this proportion had risen to 10.2% of the working-age population.
Compared to the rest of England
London now has a similar proportion of its working-age p…
Indexed gross hourly pay in London and England (2002-2023)
This indicator shows how hourly pay for Londoners’ in employment (before tax, adjusted for inflation) has changed over time, using 2008 as a baseline. On average, Londoners are paid 8.5% less per-hour (as of 2023) than in 2008 - lower than any point since 2015.
Hourly pay for lower earners
Hourly pay for lower earning Londoners at the 10th income percentile has grown significantly since 2014. Londoners in this group are paid 11.5% more per-hour (as of 2023) than they were in 2008. This rise is even more extreme in the rest of England, where those at the 10th income percentile earn 19% more per hour than they did in 2008.
This rise is likely driven by increases in the minimum and Living Wages. However, when we look at weekly and yearly pay - instead of hourly - we don’t see the same increase in earnings for those on lower incomes.
Hourly pay…
Indexed gross annual pay in London and England (2000/01 - 2022/23)
This indicator shows how yearly pay for Londoners’ in employment (before tax, adjusted for inflation) has changed over time, using 2008 as a baseline. On average, Londoners are paid 8.9% less (as of 2023) than they were in 2008.
Yearly pay for lower earners
Over the last 10 years, annual pay for Londoners at the lower 10th percentile has increased by 9%. This group are also paid slightly more per year (2.2%) than they were at the start of the pandemic.
However, Londoners at the 10th percentile are still paid significantly less (11.2%) per year than they were in 2008. This is despite earning more per hour than in 2008, as shown by our hourly pay over time indicator.
Yearly pay for higher earners
Londoners at the 90th percentile (those with incomes above 90% of other Londoners) are paid 8.3% less than they were in 2008.
Before the pandemic, t…
People seen sleeping rough by outreach workers by borough (2023/24)
People sleeping rough by London boroughs
Proportion of households in poverty by family type (2022/23)
This indicator was last updated in May 2024. It is now archived and will no longer be updated. Explore London’s Poverty Profile to view our up to date indicators. You can explore all of our data on poverty rates by demographics here. If you have any questions, get in touch.
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the proportion of people in poverty in London (after housing costs) by family structure. A person is classed as being in poverty if they earn below 60% of the median income. You can find out more about how poverty is measured here.
What does it tell us?
Families made up of a single adult with children are the most likely to be in poverty. In London 47% of these family types are counted as being in poverty, with 44% in the rest of England. Other single person household types follow next, with couple households showing low…
Poverty for children, pensioners and working-age adults (2012/2013 and 2022/2023)
Last updated: May 2024
Next estimated update: May 2025
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the percentage of people in London living in poverty (after housing costs), split by life stages. For a more comprehensive breakdown of poverty in different age groups, visit this indicator.
What does it tell us?
Of the three age groups shown here, children have the highest poverty rates, with 32% of children in London in poverty in 2022/23, compared to 22% of working-age adults and 19% of pensioners.
How has this changed over time?
In the last 10 years, the proportion of children in poverty in London has decreased by 5 percentage points - from 37% to 32%. The poverty rate among working-age adults has also decreased (from 27% to 22%), while for pensioners it has stayed the same (19%).
How does London compare to the rest of England?
Children…
Proportion of Londoners in poverty after housing costs by age band (2022/23)
Last updated: May 2024
Next estimated update: May 2025
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the poverty rate in London by age group. A person is classed as being in poverty if they earn below 60% of the median income. You can find out more about how poverty is measured here.
What does it tell us?
Poverty rates after housing costs were highest among children and young people in 2022/23, in both London and the rest of England.
- In London 140,000 children aged four and under live in households in poverty
- A third (33%) of children aged 5-9 are in households in poverty
- Over a third of 10-19 year olds live in households that are in poverty (35% of those aged 10-14 and 37% of those aged 15-19).
In contrast, 15% of Londoners aged 30-34 live in households that are in poverty - the lowest rate for any age group.
Poverty rates in London are h…
Poverty rates by demographic characteristics in London (2022/23)
Last updated: May 2024
Next estimated update: May 2025
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the poverty rate in London (after housing costs) by demographics. A person is classed as being in poverty if they earn below 60% of the median income. You can find out more about how poverty is measured here.
For further breakdowns by demographics, explore poverty by ethnicity, poverty by age, poverty by family type and disability and poverty.
What does it tell us?
Poverty rates vary significantly across different demographic groups in London. The highest poverty rates are experienced by workless families (50%) and households comprised of single people with children (47%). Black and minority ethnic groups are far more likely to be in poverty (34%) than white people (17%), and single pensioners also see a higher than average poverty rate a…
Number of children, adults, and pensioners in London in poverty by working status (2012/2013, 2017/2018 and 2022/2023)
Last updated: May 2024
Next estimated update: May 2025
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the number of people living in poverty in London, split by life-stage (children, adults and pensioners) and the working-status of their household. A ‘working household’ is one where at least one adult is in work and a ‘workless household’ is one in which no adults are in work.
What does it tell us?
We can see that more Londoners living in poverty are in working households than in workless households. This has been consistently the case for the last decade. In 2022/23 we find some 930,000 people in poverty are living in working households. By contrast, 380,000 people in poverty are living in working-age workless households.
A similar pattern is true if we look at children in poverty. 480,000 children in poverty live in households where som…
Proportion of people in London in poverty by type of working household over time (1998/99 - 2022/23)
Last updated: May 2024
Next estimated update: May 2025
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the percentage of people in poverty, split by their household working status. It focuses on families where at least one adult is in work, to explore the nature of in-work poverty in London. For example, we can see the percentage of people who live in a household where all adults are in full-time work that are in poverty.
What does it tell us?
Household work status is closely related to the likelihood of the household being in poverty. This indicator shows that, on average, the fewer adults who are in work, the more likely the household is to be in poverty:
- Households where one or more adult works part time (and none work full time) have the highest poverty rate. Nearly half of people (43%) living in such households are in poverty.
- In contr…
Households are considered to be below the UK poverty line if their income is below 60% of the median household income after housing costs for that year.
Premature deaths per 100,000 under-75 year olds by London borough (2022)
When somebody under the age of 75 dies, it counts as a premature death. This indicator shows the number of premature deaths per 100,000 under-75 year olds in each London borough.
The average number of deaths per 100,000 under-75 year olds in England is 342, whereas in London it is 309.
Eight London boroughs have a rate of premature deaths higher than England’s average. These boroughs are generally in the east of the city- such as Barking and Dagenham (433 per 100,000 under-75 year olds), Hackney (404), and Tower Hamlets (394). The borough with the lowest premature death rate is Richmond (225 per 100,000).
City of London’s figures have been suppressed since their data sample is too small.
Numbers of non-working men and women aged 16-64 in London (2020 Q1 and 2023 Q3)
This indicator was last updated in 2023. It is now archived and will no longer be updated. Explore London’s Poverty Profile to view our up to date indicators. If you have any questions, get in touch.
This indicator shows the reasons for not working for men and women, as well as the number of working-age people not working in London.
The number of men not working increased from 2020 Q1 to 2023 Q3 from 610k to 678k, while the number of women fell from 908k to 887k.
The largest difference between men and women is the proportion of those who do not work because they are looking after their family or home. While only 3.7% of non-working men fall in this category, 32.5% of women do.
The proportion of women who cite looking after family or home as their reason for not working fell in 2023 Q3 compared to 2020 Q1 from 36.2% to 32.5%, and so did the a…
Population by age-groups (2021)
More than one in five people living in Inner London (23.1%) are aged between 25 and 34. This compares to just 12.7% of those in the rest of England. More broadly, in Inner London, almost half the population is made up out of those who are in their early twenties to early forties (47.2%), compared to the rest of England where three in 10 (31.1%) are in this age group, and Inner London is home to a higher proportion of young people than Outer London.
This is caused by people moving to Inner London for work early in their careers and then leaving as they start families. The largest five-year age band is 25 to 29 year olds in Inner London, 35 to 39 year olds in Outer London and 50 to 54 year olds in the rest of England. A relatively small proportion of London’s population is over 65; 9.4% in Inner London and 13.6% in Outer London compared to …
Average travel time by public transport to jobs and services by neighbourhood income deprivation decile (2019)
This indicator was last updated in 2023. It is now archived and will no longer be updated. Explore London’s Poverty Profile to view our up to date indicators. If you have any questions, get in touch.
Based on average travel times by public transport, Londoners have much better access to jobs and services than people in the rest of England. For example, the average journey time by public transport to the nearest large employment centre from the 10% most deprived areas is 21 minutes in London compared to 25 minutes in the rest of England.
For the same measure, people living in the most income-deprived areas of London have slightly better access than those in less income-deprived areas. The average journey time to public services (such as schools, GPs and hospitals) is more than 25% longer for the least deprived areas in London than the most…
Underutilised labour market capacity in London (2004 - 2023 Q4)
This indicator was last updated in June 2024. It is now archived and will no longer be updated. Explore London’s Poverty Profile to view our up to date indicators. If you have any questions, get in touch.
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the underutilised labour market capacity in London, over time. Put simply, this is the proportion of working age adults who want to work more than they currently do. We can see this split by people who are part-time but want to work full time; people who are unemployed (meaning economically active, but out of work); and people who are economically inactive (for example due to studying, sickness or caring responsibilities) but want to work.
What does it tell us?
Across London, 9.6% of working-age adults want to work more than they currently do. This is lower than every other year shown here…
Unemployment rates in London for men and women (Jun 1992 - Jun 2024)
Last updated: August 2024
Next estimated update: October 2024
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the proportion of Londoners that are unemployed, split by sex.
What does it tell us?
Women are slightly more likely to be unemployed than men in London. 5.8% of women in London were unemployed in June 2024, compared to 4.7% of men.
For both sexes, this is slightly higher than two years ago. The unemployment rate is also higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic - but lower than it was during its pandemic peak of 2021, and much lower than the peak during the financial crisis of around 10% (in 2011).
The unemployment gap
Over the past three decades, the gender split has become more even overall. In 1993 the unemployment rate was more than 50% higher amongst men compared to women, but by the late 2000s the numbers were broadly si…
Unemployment rate over time (2005 Q1 - 2024 Q1)
Last updated: August 2024
Next estimated update: November 2024
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the unemployment rate over time for London, the rest of England, and for Inner and Outer London.
What does it tell us?
The picture now
Outer London’s unemployment rate is 4.9%, which is below the rate in Inner London of 5.3%. Both Inner and Outer London have higher unemployment rates than the rest of England (3.6%).
How this has changed over time
Unemployment peaked following the financial crash, and then steadily declined from 2012 until the beginning of 2020. In Inner London, the unemployment rate more than halved from 2010 to 2020, from 10.7% to 4.5%. It recovered to pre-financial crisis levels in 2014. In Outer London, it declined from its peak of 9.3% in 2012 to 4.9% in 2020, and did not recover its pre-crisis levels until 201…
Unemployment rate by London borough (2023 Q1 and 2024 Q1)
Last updated: September 2024
Next update: April 2025
What does this indicator show?
A person is considered ‘unemployed’ if they are out of work, but looking for or available to work. This indicator shows the unemployment rate - the proportion of economically active people (that is those either employed or unemployed) age 16+ who are unemployed - in each London borough. View a map of the data at the bottom of the page.
What does it tell us?
The unemployment rate varies across London boroughs with the highest rates in 2024 Q1 around 3 percentage points higher as the lowest. Barking and Dagenham (7.0%), Hillingdon (6.8%) and Camden (6.6%) contrast with Hackney, Southwark, and Harrow (all 4.1%).
How this has changed in the last year
Compared to the previous year, most boroughs saw increases, some quite large - Hillingdon, Camden, Islington, Westmin…
Unemployment rates by age group (2004 Q4 - 2023 Q4)
This indicator was last updated in June 2024. It is now archived and will no longer be updated. Explore London’s Poverty Profile to view our up to date indicators. If you have any questions, get in touch.
View all of our work related indicators here.
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the unemployment rate* in London and the rest of England split by age groups. We can use it to see how the unemployment rate among young people (16-24) compares to those aged 25-64 and those aged 65+.
What does it tell us?
Unemployment is much higher among young Londoners than other age groups. It’s also significantly higher than among young people in the rest of England.
The unemployment rate is 14.6% for young Londoners. Although this is lower than its peak during the COVID years (18.5%), it’s significantly higher than among those aged 25-64 (…
Proportion of workers in London in temporary employment (2011-2022 Q2)
This indicator was last updated in 2023. It is now archived and will no longer be updated. Explore London’s Poverty Profile to view our up to date indicators. If you have any questions, get in touch.
Just over 5% of people in work in London are on temporary contracts. Temporary contracts are more prevalent amongst women in work than men: 30% more women than men were on a temporary contract in 2022 (Q2).
The proportion of workers on temporary contracts has remained relatively consistent over the past decade, fluctuating between just over 4.5% and just under 6% of all workers. In 2022 (Q2), 0.84% of women in work and 0.66% of men in work were on a temporary contract and reported that it was because they could not find a permanent job
Proportion of London's working-age population who are not in paid work by ethnic group (2013 Q4, 2020 Q1 and 2023 Q4)
This indicator was last updated in June 2024. It is now archived and will no longer be updated. Explore London’s Poverty Profile to view our up to date indicators.
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What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the proportion of people who are not in paid work in London, split by ethnicity.
Worklessness here is different from unemployment. Unemployment only includes people who are ‘economically active’ - those who are in work, looking for work, or able to start work soon. The figure here also includes ‘economically inactive’ people, which includes people who are unable to work as they are studying, retired, sick, or a family carer. This means that the figures in this indicator are much higher than unemployment rates. See reasons for not wo…
Worklessness for men and women in London by country of birth (2021/22 Q1)
Just under two-thirds (63%) of working-age women in London who were born in Bangladesh did not work in the year to March 2021/22, the highest rate of any nationality. Pakistani women are not far behind with 61% not working. Of men in London who were born overseas, those from China have the highest rate of worklessness (28%).
Women originally from Portugal had the lowest rates of worklessness (2%), while those from Sri Lanka had the lowest rate for men (9%). For most countries, the worklessness rate is higher for women than men, although this trend does not hold true for countries such as Lithuania, Portugal, France, Romania, Poland and Italy.