London workers £50k worse off since 2010, mayor says

Economists from the Greater London Authority have analysed pay trends in the capital and compared them to inflation rates.

People employed in London are £50,000 worse off since 2010 due to a "scandalous" lack of wage growth, claims a report by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

The paper says the average London worker is losing out on thousands of pounds each year because wages have failed to keep up with inflation.

Mr Khan has called on the government to improve the economic situation in the capital, including increasing the amount spent on affordable housing.

The Treasury has been contacted for comment.

'Harming millions'

The analysis conducted by the Greater London Authority (GLA) on behalf of the mayor used pay data from London and the UK between 2010 and 2022, and compared it to rates of inflation over the same timeframe.

According to the report - which did not include self-employed jobs - the average salary for a London worker in April 2022 was £36,700, after accounting for inflation.

However, had wages increased from 2010 to 2022 at the same rate as the previous decade, the average pay would be £47,600, the report finds.

When adding up losses each year over the 13-year period, the report authors therefore estimated every worker had lost a total £50,000.

Sadiq Khan claims that the UK's economic recovery cannot occur without a strong London recovery

Mr Khan said the government "should be doing much more" to tackle "sluggish" wage growth, which was "harming millions".

He called on the government to "turbo-boost" productivity in the city with funding for more affordable housing and commercial properties, to create jobs and attract high-skilled talent.

The mayor also said there needed to be an increase in research and development spending to create "innovation clusters" across London, along with demands for more transport and infrastructure investment.

At the start of the year Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made a series of promises including halving the inflation rate and growing the economy to create better-paid jobs.