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 for higher earners
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a large decline in hourly gross pay (in real terms) for higher earners, with drops in the median and 90th percentile. Over the same time period, real-terms pay increased for low earners (10th percentile). The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have had a greater economic impact on those who aren’t protected by the increase in minimum and living wages as the jobs at the bottom percentiles are.
Change in real hourly gross pay by job pay percentile in London (2023)
When looking at the change in hourly earnings within the last 5 and 10 years (in real terms) hourly earnings have increased for the three lowest income groups shown here. However, there is a steep decline for the top percentiles when looking at hourly gross pay growth over the last 10 years, with a decline of 4.3% for the top earners over the past decade.
