Worklessness is also increasing, particularly in the most deprived parts of the city. In the 10% most deprived areas, the unemployment benefit claim rate increased by 5.5 percentage points between 2019 and 2025—five times the increase seen in the least deprived areas (Trust for London, 2025)
Work
Faced with the high cost of raising a child in London, many families struggle to make ends meet due to a lack of high-quality, well-paid work.
Almost half of Londoners in poverty are in employment, and 16% of those in work are paid below the London Living Wage. Many face insecure and/or insufficient work. Research from the Living Wage Foundation has found that there are over 800,000 insecure jobs in London. While the proportion of insecure jobs is slightly lower than in other regions, London still has the highest total number of workers in insecure employment, highlighting the scale of the issue in the capital (London Living Wage Foundation, 2024).
Calls to actions
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Government should review conditionality requirements so that Jobcentre advisors are better able to take account of parental and caring responsibilities.
Government should revise the rules governing the Flexible Support Fund to enable more new parents to benefit from upfront support (currently restricted to those increasing hours or starting a new role, rather than returning on existing terms).
Government should embed and promote the real Living Wage and Living Hours through UK procurement and grant-making and strengthen people’s rights and access to predictable, sufficient hours, learning from the Living Wage Foundation’s Living Hours standard.
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The Greater London Authority (GLA) and Local Authorities should work together to deliver specialist, tailored employment support that recognises the specific barriers people face, and use the opportunities presented by the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill to coordinate skills and employment provision London-wide.
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Update and promote the Good Work Strategy, placing renewed emphasis on tackling low pay and insecure work.
Through the Inclusive Talent Strategy, encourage employers to adopt family-friendly practices, including accreditation through schemes such as Working Families’ Family Friendly Workplaces.
Provide targeted support and training for refugees with newly granted status to help them enter the workforce
Expand support, resources, and training for setting up SMEs, in partnership with local authorities.
BEST PRACTICE
Working Families Family Friendly Workplaces certification provides employers with a framework of best practice guidelines and a work and family action plan to embed family friendly workplace culture.
