More than two million Londoners living in poverty, report suggests

The bottom fifth of households in London own just 0.1% of the capital’s wealth, including finances and property, a new study shows.

Research by the Trust for London suggested 2.3 million Londoners are living in poverty, even though record numbers of people are in work.

The charity said a record 58% of those living in poverty in the capital are in working families, up from 44% a decade ago.

The proportion of Londoners living in poverty after housing costs are taken into account has fallen by 2% to 27% over the past six years, said the report.

Wealth inequality is a “significant” issue in London, with the bottom 20% of households owning 0.1% of wealth, the bottom half owning 5%, while the top 10% owns over half.

Wealth refers to financial, property, physical and pensions.

Mubin Haq, director of policy and grants at Trust for London, said: “Despite record levels of Londoners in work, poverty rates have only nudged down slightly over the last few years.

“Over two million Londoners are struggling to make ends meet. That’s more than the entire populations of Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol and Newcastle combined.

“The reality remains, that for many work does not pay enough, or offer the security that people need.

“We need more action to increase wages and improve good work standards if poverty is to further reduce.”

The report said poverty was measured using official statistics on household income, calculated after taxes and housing costs.

A household whose income is below 60% of the median income is counted as being in poverty, the charity added.

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