Work, worklessness & benefits

What does this indicator show?

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 2024 when the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings we use for this analysis was conducted was £13.15.

This page looks at the proportion of jobs in London paid below the London Living Wage by:

• employment type (full-time and part-time)
• industry
• occupation
• borough

Here we focus on workplace based numbers. This means that jobs may be held by Londoners or by people who live elsewhere but commute into the capital. For data on jobs held by London residents only, see 'Low-paid Londoners'.

What does it tell us?

The proportion of low-paid jobs in London has increased slightly in 2024 (13.8%) compared to 2023 (12.8%); this follows a steady decline since 2018 that partially…

Last updated: December 2024
Next update: December 2025

What does this indicator show?

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 2024 when the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings we use for this analysis was conducted was £13.15.

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'.

What does it tell us?

Brent had the highest proportion of residents who were low paid (25.2%) in 2024 followed by Barking and Dagenham (23.8%) and Newham (23.5%). By contrast Wandsworth (9.9%), Westminster (9.9%) and Islington (10%) have the lowest proportion (excluding City of London).

Tower Hamlets had the greatest increase compared to 2023 in t…

Last update: December 2024

What does this indicator show?

This indicator looks at jobs held by London residents that are paid below the London Living Wage, split by sex. These jobs may be located within London or outside the capital. 

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 2024 when the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings we use for this analysis was conducted was £13.15.

What does it tell us?

Women have consistently been more likely to be in low-paid work than men. In 2024, 19.4% of female Londoners were in low-paid work, which was a sharp increase compared to 2023 (17%). By contrast 15% of male Londoners were in low-paid work, which was a smaller increase compared to 2023 (14%).

This gender gap in low-paid employment is driv…

Special-license data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) makes it possible to analyse how different demographics groups of Londoners suffer from low-pay. It is important to note, nonetheless, two important caveats in relation to this data source. Firstly, because of reduced sample sizes, for some groups the estimations have rather wide confidence intervals (at 95%), which call for a careful interpretation of the data. Secondly, because of the different characteristics of LFS (a survey of residents) and ASHE (based on a sample of administrative data), the London average associated to the figures below differs from the one represented above.

Notwithstanding the limitations explained above, data appears to show important difference in low-pay according to Londoners’ ethnicity. In fact, white Londoners appear to be the only group that have a b…

Disabled Londoners in work are more likely to be low-paid than Londoners who are not Disabled and are in work. The proportion of working Londoners with a disability that are low-paid is above average, and 7 percentage points higher than their neighbours without a disability.

Last updated: December 2024
Next update: December 2025

What does this indicator show?

There are many ways of measuring pay inequality. This indicator considers the 80:20 hourly wage ratio, which shows how much greater hourly pay is for those at the 80th percentile of the hourly pay distribution than for those at the 20th percentile. The larger the ratio, the more unequal hourly pay.

What does it tell us?

Based on this measure, pay inequality is significantly higher in London than in England. In London, the 20% highest paid earn nearly 2.5x more per hour than the 20% lowest paid. In England, the figure is 1.59.

Since before the pandemic, wage inequality has decreased in every borough where data are available, except Hillingdon. Every borough has a higher level of pay inequality than the England average.

Want to know more?

If you want to explore t…

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…

Last updated: December 2024
Next update: December 2025

What does this indicator show?

This indicator shows how hourly pay for Londoners’ in employment (before tax, adjusted for inflation) has changed over time, using 2008 as a baseline. 

We can use it to see how yearly pay has changed for the average Londoner, as well as for higher earners (those at the 90th percentile) and lower earners (those at the 10th percentile). Further down the page, a chart shows how annual pay has changed in the last year, 5 years and 10 years for different income groups in London.

What does it tell us?

On average, Londoners are paid 4.9% less per-hour (as of 2024) than in 2008. But this is different across different income groups.

Low-income Londoners are paid significantly more per-hour than in 2014

Hourly pay for lower earning Londoners at the 10th income percentile…

Last update: December 2024
Next estimated update: December 2025

What does this indicator show?

This indicator shows how weekly pay for Londoners’ in employment has changed over time, adjusted for inflation. It shows gross pay - meaning before tax - and uses 2008 as baseline. 

We can use it to see how weekly pay has changed for the average Londoner, as well as for higher earners (those at the 90th percentile) and lower earners (those at the 10th percentile). Further down the page, a chart shows how annual pay has changed in the last year, 5 years and 10 years for different income groups in London.

What does it tell us?

On average, Londoners are paid approximately 6% less per week (as of 2024) than they were in 2008. 

Londoners on lower incomes (those at the 10th percentile of weekly pay, with weekly incomes below 90% of Londoners) are paid 3% le…

Last updated: December 2024
Next estimated updated: December 2025

What does this indicator show?

This indicator shows how yearly pay for Londoners’ in employment has changed over time, adjusted for inflation. It shows gross pay - meaning before tax - and uses 2008 as baseline. 

We can use it to see how yearly pay has changed for the average Londoner, as well as for higher earners (those at the 90th percentile) and lower earners (those at the 10th percentile). Further down the page, a chart shows how annual pay has changed in the last year, 5 years and 10 years for different income groups in London.

What does it tell us

Yearly pay for lower earners has increased - but still below 2008 levels

Over the last 10 years, annual pay for Londoners at the lower 10th percentile has increased by 15.4%. This group is also paid slightly more per year (4.1%) …

Last updated: May 2024
Next estimated update: May 2025

What does this indicator show?

This indicator shows the employment status of all Londoners in poverty. By looking at the percentage of people in poverty who are employed, we can see the prevalence of in-work poverty in London.

What does it tell us?

More than half (51%) of working-age Londoners in poverty are employed. Just below half (44%) of those aged 16 and over who are in poverty in London are economically inactive (retired, long-term sick, studying or looking after the home). Another 5% are unemployed.

The proportion of people (aged 16 and over) in poverty who are working is higher in London (51%) than it is in the rest of England (43%). In the last decade, the proportion of people in poverty who are employed has gone up slightly - from 46% in 2012/13 to 51% in 2022/23. The proportion…

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…

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…

Last updated: May 2024
Next estimated update: May 2025

What does this indicator show?

This indicator looks at the industries in which those experiencing in-work poverty are most likely to work. It shows the proportion of Londoners in in-work poverty that are working in each of the ONS’ Standard Industry Classifications.

What does it tell us?

In London, the most common industry for people in in-work poverty to work in is human health and social work activities. This group accounts for 13% of Londoners in in-work poverty.

The second most common industry for people in in-work poverty to work in in London is administrative and support service activities. This group accounts for 11% of Londoners in in-work poverty.

By contrast in the rest of England the most common industry for people in in-work poverty to work is wholesale/retail and motor repair (…

Last updated: February 2025
Next update: January 2026 (TBC)

What does this indicator show?

This indicator shows the level of employment deprivation in London’s neighbourhoods. An area with more severe employment deprivation will have a higher proportion of people out of work involuntarily.

It uses the English Indices of Deprivation, which gives each neighbourhood an overall deprivation score. It does this by combining data from seven areas known as domains, one of which is employment.

For this indicator, we have excluded all non-London neighbourhoods and divided them into five equal groups - known as quintiles. This allows us to quickly see which areas of London have the highest levels of employment deprivation. Darker neighbourhoods face the highest levels, lighter areas the least.

What does it tell us?

Neighbourhoods with higher levels of emp…

Last updated: April 2025
Next estimated update: August 2025

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 using annual data up to quarter 4 data for each year (December 2024).

What does it tell us?

The picture now

Over the last two years there has been a jump in unemployment in inner London, from 4.3% in 2022 to 5.8% in 2024. This sharp increase hasn’t been seen in Outer London, where unemployment decreased from 2023 to 2024, or in the rest of England, where the rates increased only slightly from 3.4% to 3.6%. Further data points are needed before we can know if this is a significant change in the trend or a product of volatility in the survey data.

Both Inner and Outer London have higher unemployment rates than the rest of England.

How this has…

Last updated: March 2025
Next update: June 2025

What does this indicator show?

Unemployed people are not working but are actively trying to find a job. This indicator shows the unemployment rate for people aged 16+ in each London borough.

What does it tell us?

The unemployment rate varies across London boroughs with the highest rates in 2024 Q3 around nearly 4 percentage points higher than the lowest. Barking and Dagenham (7.3%), and Newham (6.7%) contrast with Bexley Waltham Forest (3.6%) and Kingston-upon-Thames (3.7%)

Compared to the previous year, most boroughs saw increases, some quite large. Camden, Newham, Haringey and Lambeth all saw their unemployment rates increase by more than 1.5 percentage points. A few boroughs saw decreases, notably Hillingdon, Enfield and Waltham Forest - all decreasing by more than 1.3 percentage points.

The fi…

Last updated: February 2025
Next estimated update: May 2025

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. 6.6% of women in London were unemployed in December 2024, compared to 5.7% of men.

For both sexes, this is higher than two years ago. The unemployment rate is also higher than it was immediately before the COVID-19 pandemic, but remains 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 similar for both genders. However, the gap has …

Last updated: April 2025
Next estimated update: April 2026

What’s this indicator?

This indicator shows the percentage of 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 2024 90% of Londoners aged 16-64 with qualifications higher than A-levels (such as university degrees) were employed compa…

Last updated: April 2025
Next estimated update: April 2026

What does this indicator show?

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.

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.

What does it tell us?

In 9% of London’s working age households, no adults are in work. The proportion of workless households has fallen since 2004 when 15% of households contained nobody in employment. This means that in 2023, at least one adult does some work in 91% of working-age households in London.

In 2023, there were over 3.1 million households in London (52%) where all adults were in work and another 2.4 million households in London (40%) that contained some wor…

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…

Last updated: April 2025
Next estimated update: July 2025

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 4.8 million Londoners – 67% of the adult population – were in work of some kind in the year to December 2024. This is higher than the 60% of adults who are employed in the rest of England.

Three in ten adults in London are classed as economically inactive (30%) - 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.

See Labour Market Activity by Sex.

Want to kno…

Last updated: April 2025
Next estimated update: July 2025

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 385,800 more men in work in London than women. Men who live in London are also more likely to be self-employed than women – 15% compared to 8%.

Women are significantly more likely to be economically inactive than men, with 35% of women not working and not looking for work compared to 24% 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% of …

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.

Last updated: February 2025
Next estimated update: May 2025

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?

14.4% of working-age Londoners are out-of-work and on benefits - an increase since last year (12.5%), and the highest level in the time period shown here.

The number of out-of-work benefit claimants aged 16-64 jumped in 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, peaking at 13.8% 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, 1% of working-age Londoners were out of work and claiming Universal Credit in 2017. By 2024, this proportion had risen to 11.9% of the working-age population.

Compared to the rest of England

London now has …

People on out-of-work benefits, by London borough

Last updated: December 2024
Next estimated update: March 2025

What does this indicator show?

This indicator shows the number of households in London who are affected by the benefit cap, and how much income they are missing out on because of the cap. 

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 38,000 households in London had their income reduced by the benefit cap in May 2024. This has increased by more than 49% since before the pandemic (May 2019) and significantly sinc…