Gender

Over 4.6 million Londoners - 66% of the adult population - are in work of some kind. This is higher than the 60% of adults who are employed in the rest of England. 34% of adults in London are economically inactive. 

There are over 360,000 more men in work in London than women. The men who work in London are also more likely to be self-employed, with 16% of men who work in London doing so for themselves compared to 8% of women. 

Women are significantly more likely to be economically inactive than men, with 40% of women not working compared to 28% of men. For many types of inactivity, women and men have very similar rates, including long-term sickness, studying and unemployment. 

However, women were significantly more likely to not be working because they were looking after the home or family, with 9% of women -  just over 335,000 people - be…

This indicator shows overall life expectancy at birth as well as healthy life expectancy. The latter indicates the number of years a person can expect to live in good health rather than with a disability or in poor health.

Overall life expectancy is higher for women than for men in 2016 to 2018. This is true across all London boroughs. However, this is less clear for healthy life expectancy, with some boroughs having a longer healthy life expectancy for men than women. For example, healthy life expectancy for men in Tower Hamlets is 60.5 years whereas for women it is only 56.6 years.

The highest life expectancy for women (87 years) is found in Camden, while for men the highest life expectancy is 83.9 years in Westminster. The lowest life expectancy for both men (78 years) and women (82.7 years) is found in Barking and Dagenham, however it …

The number of people sleeping rough in London has almost trebled in a decade. Some 10,726 people were recorded sleeping rough in the capital in 2019/20 compared to 3,673 in 2009/10. 

Most people sleeping rough are white, although the number of BAME people sleeping rough has risen faster than the number of white people. Of the people whose nationality is known, around half are British citizens, with EU citizens making up most of the rest. A large majority (83%) of people sleeping rough in London are men.

More people sleep rough in Central London than in any other part of the capital. This has been the case for some time, but the proportion of people sleeping rough who do so in Central London has fallen from over two thirds in 2011/12 to around half in 2019/20. This has been primarily driven by a rise in rough sleeping in East London.

This in…

Poverty rates vary significantly across different demographic groups in London and the rest of England.

Overall, poverty rates amongst men and women are similar. However, in the rest of England both men and women have a lower poverty rate (with 21% and 22% respectively) compared to those in London (28% and 29% respectively). 

Within London, poverty rates are almost twice as high for BME groups (39%) as for white groups (21%). Amongst the different family types, single parents with children are most likely to experience poverty. In London, 54% of this group were in poverty in 2018/19. Between 2014/15 and 2018/19, London pensioners experienced the largest increase in poverty rates. The poverty rate for couple pensioners rose by 6 percentage points (from 15% to 21%) and for single pensioners also by 6 percentage points (from 22% to 28%).

The number of unemployed people in London has just under halved since its post-financial crisis peak in 2011 (from 448,000 in 2011 to 267,000 in 2020). 

Over the past three decades, the gender split of unemployment has become more even. In 1993 there were almost two unemployed men for every unemployed woman, but by 2015 the numbers were broadly similar with just under 140,000 of both genders unemployed.  Since then, unemployment has fallen consistently for women (113,000 in 2020) while it has increased in the last three years for men (154,000 in 2020). 

Although the unemployment count is up to June-August of 2020, the full impact of the coronavirus on employment is only partly captured by this indicator. Other factors, such as those put on furlough and the change in inactivity within the labour market, should also be considered. 

Over 5% of people in work in London are on temporary contracts. Temporary contracts are more prevalent amongst women in work than men: 50% more women than men were on a temporary contract in 2020.  

The proportion of workers on temporary contracts has remained relatively consistent over the past decade, fluctuating between just under 5% and just over 6% of all workers. In 2020, 1.27% of women in work and 0.56% of men in work were on a temporary contract and reported that it was because they could not find a permanent job.

In 2019/20, of men in London who were born overseas, those from China have the highest rate of worklessness (27%). Of women in London who were born overseas, the highest rate of worklessness is 66%, for those born in Pakistan. 

South Africa has the lowest rates of worklessness for both men (1%) and women (8%). For most countries, the worklessness rate is higher for women than men. However, this trend does not hold true for those born in Spain.