London Challenge Poverty Week 14-20 October 2019

London Challenge Poverty Week is a chance for us all to raise our voices against poverty in the capital.

It’s not right that...

•  …over a quarter of Londoners are caught in the grip of poverty, with children most likely to be affected. Four in ten children are growing up in poverty across the capital
•  …while employment rates are at their peak, levels of poverty are higher in the capital than the rest of the country
• … higher wages in London are not sufficient to make up for higher prices. 58% of Londoners in poverty live in a working household
• …one in eight Londoners are unable to keep their homes warm in the winter
•  …so many Londoners are stuck in insecure employment, with about 10% on temporary contracts, working through an employment agency or self-employed in a low skilled job
•  …disabled Londoners and single parents are more likely than other Londoners to be struggling to keep their heads above water. They are more likely to be in arrears with their household bills and to have debt repayments that are a serious burden and are less likely to be able to heat their homes in winter or have an emergency financial buffer of £1,500 in savings
• …the number of people paid less than the statutory minimum wage in the UK increased in 2018
•  …the cost of housing is driving people into temporary insecure accommodation and locking families in poverty, yet there was an 11% increase of empty homes in #London between 2017 and 2018. We need more social housing and genuinely affordable private rented housing to help to tackle this problem
• …the cost of childcare in London for children under 3 is higher than anywhere else in the UK