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841,000 London residents in employment earning less than London Living Wage in year to April 2018

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841,000 London residents in employment earned less than London Living Wage of £10.55 per hour in year to end April 2018 new GMB study shows

Policy makers and politicians need to refocus their stirring talk away from the soaring rhetoric of a global London back to the reality that there is a very high proportion of working families struggling to make ends meet every day, says GMB London

There were a total of 841,000 residents in London in employment earning less than a living wage of £10.55 per hour in the year to end April 2018. This is 25% of all London residents in employment. Some 37% of the residents in jobs paying less than the living wage were in part time jobs.

This data is from a new study by GMB London of official data for earnings and hours published by the Office for National statistics. See notes to editors for sources and definitions.

The median earnings for London residents in full time and part time employment in the year to end April 2018 was £15.90 per hour.

The borough with the highest number of residents in jobs earning less than the Living minimum wage of £10.55 per hour, is Croydon which has 36,500. That is 25% of jobs in borough earning less than a living wage. 39% of those part-time workers.

Next in the table was Brent, who have a 36,300 residents earning less than a living wage, which is 30% of jobs, 50% of which were part time jobs. Next is Enfield which has 34,800 residents earning less than £10.55 per hour, which is 30% of all jobs, with 62% of those part-time jobs. Then Barnet, which has 34,750 residents not earning a living wage (25% of jobs, 46% part-time); Ealing which has 34,500 (25% of jobs, 4% part-time), Newham with 34,500 (30% of jobs, 57% part-time); and Merton with 32,000 (20% of jobs and 35% part-time workers).

Set out in the table below is the full analysis for residents of 32 London boroughs in employment by GMB London of official data in the 2018 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings published Office of National Statistics (ONS). The figures do not include the self-employed. [See notes to editors for sources and definitions]

Boroughs Gross Hourly Earnings (£) in 2018* Number of jobs with earnings less than the Living Minimum Wage** % of jobs with earnings less than the Living Minimum Wage*** % of jobs earning less than the Living Minimum Wage that are part-time
         
London 15.9 841,000 25 37
         
Croydon 14.9 36,500 25 39
Brent 13.15 36,300 30 50
Enfield 13.03 34,800 30 62
Barnet 15.56 34,750 25 46
Ealing 14.53 34,500 25 4
Newham 12.77 34,500 30 57
Merton 16.41 32,000 20 35
Waltham Forest 14.32 31,200 30 48
Lambeth 16.64 28,600 20 39
Hillingdon 14.34 27,750 25 37
Hounslow 14.31 27,000 25 56
Haringey 15.38 26,500 25 44
Southwark 16.43 25,800 20 45
Lewisham 15.33 25,600 25 45
Hackney 15.69 25,000 25 60
Tower Hamlets 17.25 25,000 20 55
Havering 15.1 24,500 25 4
Bexley 14.79 24,250 25 41
Harrow 15.39 24,000 25 43
Redbridge 14.89 22,250 25 38
Greenwich 15.63 21,400 20 45
Barking and Dagenham 12.52 18,300 30 52
Sutton 15.61 16,400 20 56
Camden 18.18 16,200 20 44
Wandsworth 19.57 15,500 10 59
Bromley 17.88 14,100 10 99
Kingston upon Thames 17.85 13,000 20 46
Islington 19.53 9,700 10 56
Hammersmith and Fulham 18.74 8,200 10 n/a
Westminster 20.83 7,300 10 n/a
Richmond upon Thames 19.36 7,100 10 63
Kensington and Chelsea 20.04 4,200 10 64

* Based on Median values as provided by the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) Tables.
** Living Minimum Wage is set at £10.55 in London. 
***Estimates are provided for selected percentiles in the distribution of earnings below £10.55. Percentiles mark the values below which certain proportions of jobs fall. For example, the 20th percentile is the value below which 20% of jobs fall.

Warren Kenny, GMB Regional Secretary:

“These figures underestimate the extent of low pay in London. 

“The figures show that there were 841,000 London residents in jobs that paid below a living wage of £10.55 per hour in the year to April 2018. This is 25% of all London residents in jobs. Some 37% of these residents in jobs were in part time employment.

“To these residents you have to add the tens of thousands of workers also in lower paid jobs who travel into the capital from the commuter towns outside the M25.

“Policy makers and politicians need to refocus their stirring talk away from the soaring rhetoric of a global London back to the reality that there is a very high proportion of working families struggling to make ends meet every day. 

“Policies need to take this into account. Here is a range of changes required:

“On support, these families are dependent on housing benefits. They are adversely affected by the cuts to working families tax credits as it transitions to the universal credit system. The cuts should be reversed. 

“On new homes planned, the majority must be for rent as affordable social housing.

“On energy, the Office for Budget responsibility says that by 2022 subsidies to be paid to investors for low or zero carbon energy sources by households will amount to £10 per household per week. This is grossly unfair for these lower paid households. The subsidies should be paid for out of general taxation.

“Contractors of outsourced public sector jobs should be required to offer a living wage to all workers doing these jobs. 

“The law allows employers impunity to deny the legal rights of lower paid workers to combine into trades unions to force collective bargaining to get a better deal at work. This is perverse and should be changed. 

“GMB London call for real change to improve the upstairs downstairs labour market in London”.

ENDS

Vaughan West 07967 342197 or GMB London Press Office 07970 114762

 

Note to Editors

Sources and Definitions

- For some boroughs, estimates are considered unreliable for practical purposes so they are not available.

- This table has been compiled based on the data available in the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.