Low-paid jobs in London

What does indicator show?

This page looks at the proportion of jobs in London paid below the London Living Wage by:

• employment type (full-time and part-time)
• industry
• occupation
• borough

The London Living Wage was introduced in 2005. It is a voluntary wage rate based on the amount of money that people need to live. The rate in London in April 2025 when the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings we use for this analysis was conducted was £13.85.

Here we focus on jobs based in London. This means that the data includes people who live elsewhere but commute into the capital. For data on jobs held by London residents only, see 'Low-paid Londoners'.

Low-pay declines slightly - but is still high

12.8% of jobs in London are low-paid in 2025 - a slight decrease on 2024 (13.7%). The proportion of low-paid jobs in London has decreased slightly in 2025 (12.8%) compared to 2024 (13.7%).

This continues a trend since 2018, which has seen the proportion of low-paid jobs in London drop from a peak of just under 20%.

Low pay is much more prevalent in part-time work

Around one in three (31.9%) of part-time jobs in London were low paid in 2025. This is a significant drop from 2024, when 37.6% of part time jobs were low paid.

Part time jobs are far more likely to be low paid than full time roles (9% of which are low paid).

Despite this, there were about 36,000 more low-paid full-time jobs than low-paid part-time jobs in London in 2025, because there are so many more full-time jobs in the city.

Low pay by industry

The industry that a job is in plays a significant role in whether or not it is low-paid. Over a third (36.9%) of the jobs in ‘Accommodation and food service activities’ are low-paid.

By contrast, just 5.2% of jobs in ‘Financial and insurance activities’ pay below the London Living Wage.

Almost two in ten retail jobs are low-paid (19%) and due to the size of the sector, they make up the second largest share of low-paid jobs in London (15.0%), closely behind ‘Accommodation and food service activities’ (16.6%).

Low pay by occupation

This chart shows the proportion of jobs in London that are low-paid, by occupation category. It uses the Standard Occupational Classification system from the ONS.

Elementary occupations are the most likely to be low paid. Well over half of jobs in this category (58.5%), which includes roles like kitchen assistants and cleaners, are low paid, accounting for around a quarter of all low-paid jobs in London.

Low pay by borough workplace

There is a noticeable divide between Inner London and Outer London when it comes to the proportion of low-paid jobs. The eight boroughs that have a proportion of jobs below the London average (12.8%) are all Inner London boroughs.

The boroughs with the highest proportions of low-paid jobs are all in Outer - and especially East - London. In Redbridge, a third of jobs are low-paid.

Nevertheless, because of the large number of jobs in Inner London, a high share of all low-paid jobs in the capital are concentrated there. For instance, around 1 in 10 of low-paid jobs in London are in Westminster, despite a relatively small proportion of jobs in the borough being low-paid.

Want to know more?

If you want to explore this data in more depth, check the 'data source and notes' button on the above charts. This will tell you where the data comes from, where you may be able to dig deeper.

Or find out more about the London Living Wage using the link below.