An overview of recession impact in boroughs
The table brings together borough level statistics for four indicators: the proportion of working-age adults claiming Job Seeker's Allowance; the unemployment rate; the proportion of mortgage owning households issued with a claim for repossession; and the proportion of households in rented accommodation issued with a claim for eviction.
As well as the current figures, the table shows how the levels in each borough have changed in recent years. For the first two of these (claims for JSA and unemployment), the rate of change is measured between 2007 and 2009. For mortgage repossession, we compare 2005 to 2009, simply because the deterioration in this statistic started in the middle of the 2000s, not just with the onset of the recession. For landlord actions, no change is ranked simply because the variation over time has been small.
For each of the resulting seven statistics, the boroughs with the four highest ('worst') proportions are coloured red. The next four are coloured a dark orange, the next eight light orange. The remaining 16 boroughs, representing half of all boroughs in London, and therefore those below the average, are in beige.
Posted on 8 October 2010
What does this table show?
By looking at both levels and rates of change, we can see both how areas compare to each other, and whether or not they are getting worse. If, for instance, a borough is coloured light orange for the current level of unemployment, and red for the rate of increase, it means that while its current level is just above average, it is getting worse much more quickly than elsewhere.
On the indicators in the table, both the Inner East & South and Outer East & North East are clearly far more darkly coloured in than the other regions of London. There is little to choose between the two.
Four of the five boroughs in the Inner West are beige, and none of the five boroughs have above average rates of mortgage or landlord repossession. The Inner West now has more in common with its neighbours in Outer West & NW and Outer South London than with the rest of Inner London.
Albeit on a limited number of indicators, this table shows a real concentration of disadvantage. Eight boroughs have worse than average levels on all four indicators. Five of these (Haringey, Newham, Barking & Dagenham, Enfield and Waltham Forest) have also seen their levels of unemployment, JSA receipt and mortgage repossessions increase faster than the London average. Conversely, seven boroughs (Camden, Kensington & Chelsea, Wandsworth, Westminster, Richmond, Kingston and Merton) are better than average on every single measure.