Which London boroughs have higher levels of poverty? How does the picture of inequality differ across boroughs?
Poverty rates for individual boroughs are not statistically reliable enough to be able to compare meaningfully with each other borough, even after adding up reponses for five survey years as we have here.
But we can say which boroughs have broadly higher – and lower – levels of poverty, compared to the rest of London.
Several Inner London boroughs, and boroughs in the north of the city, have higher levels of poverty. Boroughs with lower levels of poverty are more often on the outskirts of the city - particularly in the West and South West.
Westminster, Camden, Tower Hamlets, Newham, Ealing, Wandsworth, Enfield, Haringey, Brent and Lewisham all have poverty rates higher than the London average.
Harrow, Waltham Forest, Hillingdon, Kingston, Sutton, Greenwich, H'smith & Fulham, Bromley, Havering, Merton & Richmond have poverty rates lower than the London average
How does this compare to the rest of the country?
London has one of the highest poverty rates in the country - with one in four Londoners living in poverty. Although poverty varies across the city, a majority of boroughs also have higher levels of poverty than England as a whole.
In total, 19 out of 33 have higher levels of poverty than the England average. Only four have lower – Bromley, Havering, Merton and Richmond.
Westminster, Camden, Tower Hamlets, Newham, Ealing, Wandsworth, Enfield, Haringey, Brent, Lewisham, Barking & Dagenham, Hackney, Hounslow, Lambeth, Redbridge, Barnet, Bexley, Croydon and Southwark all have significantly higher levels of poverty compared to England as a whole.
Bromley, Havering, Merton, and Richmond have below average levels of poverty compared to England as a whole.
Each borough also has different dimensions to consider when looking at inequality.
Barking and Dagenham for example has a level of poverty close to the London average. But across many other indicators, it is one of the most deprived boroughs. It has one of the highest child poverty rates in the city (42%), high levels of low pay, and a higher percentage of residents on out-of-work benefits than anywhere else in the city.
Explore poverty and inequality for all of London's boroughs.
