The employment gap presented here for London is the percentage point difference between the employment rate for one group and that for another, comparative, group of London residents. The employment gap between London’s male and female working age residents is 9 percentage points, as the percentage of London’s women aged 16-64 in employment is 72 per cent, while the equivalent employment rate for London’s men is 81 per cent. The London gender employment gap between men and women is larger than the UK gap, as, although the employment rate for women is similar, the male employment rate in London is slightly higher. At least some of this gap can be attributed to differences in employment levels between parents and those without dependent children. See parental employment for further information.
The London employment gap by gender was reducing before the recession, and fell sharply during the pandemic, as the employment rate for women continued to rise, while the employment rate for men decreased, but as the male employment rate increased between 2021 and 2022, so did the gender employment gap.
The employment gap between disabled and non-disabled Londoners stayed has continued to decrease, with a larger gap between disabled and non-disabled men (26 per cent) than between disabled and non-disabled women (19 per cent), although employment rates for disabled men and disabled women in London were similar.
The employment gaps between White and BAME groups combined have fallen below 10 percentage points both in London and nationally. However, there remain some significant gaps between the employment rates White groups and some specific groups, most notably in London between White and Mixed men (17 per cent) and White and Black men (13 per cent) and between White and Bangladeshi/Pakistani women (33 per cent).
The characteristics of people working within the GLA group vary widely across the different organisations. Within the GLA< the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) and the two Development Corporations, there are more women than men, whereas within the three biggest employers within the GLA group, the Metropolitan Police Service, Transport for London and the London Fire Brigade there are far more men than women. At least a quarter of people working for the GLA and TfL are from a Black or minority ethnic group, though this information is not known for some workers. This is less than the third of employed Londoners who are from a Black or minority ethnic group. The proportion is even lower in some of the other organisations within the GLA group – less than one in five of those working for the police or fire brigade are from a BAME group.
