21 March 2007

Employment opportunity for all: tackling worklessness in London

There has been strong growth in the number of jobs and in the level of employment in London since 1997. However, at just under 70 per cent, the capital's employment rate is lower than both the national rate and that of every other UK country and region, and child poverty rates are high. Many Londoners are not sharing the gains generated by the capital's economic strength.

Economic growth provides the essential foundation to address poverty and worklessness. The challenge for government at all levels - national, city and local, working with relevant partners - is to combine this economic strength with greater economic inclusiveness. To this end, Employment opportunity for all: tackling worklessness in London, published alongside Budget 2007 sets out to inform the analysis of the issues and help in developing a consensus around the necessary steps towards meeting this challenge.

The issues identified by the report are that a relatively large share of London's population is disadvantaged in the labour market by their individual circumstances; that there is strong competition for lower-skilled jobs in London's labour market, which reduces employment chances both for low skilled people in general, but also for young people and mothers; and the low parental employment rates, which underpin relatively high rates of child poverty in the capital.

The document makes recommendations as to the areas where future policy should be directed to meet these challenges:

first, the labour market: there should be an explicit focus on policies to relieve the congestion in London's low-skilled labour market that reduces the employment chances of many Londoners.
second, employment programmes: a more strategic London-wide approach to identifying the most appropriate solutions to the capital's problems is required, alongside sufficient operational flexibility at the appropriate levels to implement these approaches effectively but systematically ; and
third, parents: in line with the findings of the Harker Report, policies should have a clearer focus on the employment needs of parents in London, including efforts to further improve the functioning of the childcare market.

Local autonomy is important to allow the flexibility to address area specific problems. A strategic London-wide approach, bringing together all levels of government and other partners, is important to coordinate policy in line with the recommendations in the document. The institutional arrangements that would be best suited to implementing these changes should now be considered.

Media links

Employment opportunity for all: tackling worklessness in London (PDF, 1,421KB) ISBN: 978-1-84532-265-6