Job Seeker's Allowance by borough

Key points

  • The number of people claiming JSA has almost doubled in Outer London. This means there are now more JSA recipients in Outer London than Inner London.
  • All seven boroughs in the Outer East & NE are among the ten London boroughs with the largest increases in JSA recipients.
  • The three boroughs with the lowest increases are all in the Inner West.

JSA by borough

What does this graph show?

This graph shows the proportion of working-age adults receiving JSA in each London borough, averaged across the four quarters of 2009. It is ranked according to the increase since 2007. The black line, from top to bottom, shows the average level for London. The average is just over 4%, up from around 2.5% in 2007.

Barking & Dagenham has seen the biggest rise in JSA recipiency rising by more than 50% in two years. It also has the third highest level overall. Havering and Enfield had the next highest increases. Hackney and Tower Hamlets have the highest levels overall. What is most striking about his graph is that all of the 10 boroughs with the largest increases are in Outer London. These include all of the boroughs in the Outer East & North East.

Conversely, the three boroughs with the lowest rates of increase are all in the Inner West of London - Camden, Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea. Not one borough in the Inner West is in the top ten boroughs either for increase or for the overall level of JSA receipt. This emphasises a point made strongly in the previous report, that the image of an entirely deprived Inner London is incorrect. The differences between east and west are stark.

Boroughs at the top of the graph, which also cross the black line, have a high rate of JSA recipiency that is increasing quickly. Barking & Dagenham, Greenwich, Ealing, and Haringey all fall into this group.

Additional information

In 2007, more JSA claimants lived in Inner than Outer London. This is no longer the case. Since then, whereas the number of JSA recipients in Inner London has increased from 65,000 to 100,000, it has almost doubled in Outer London, to around 120,000.

Data used

DWP Longitudinal Study, 2007 and 2009

Receiving JSA is not the same as being unemployed. The unemployment indicators show that 7% of the population of London were unemployed, but only 4% received JSA. It is possible to be unemployed and not qualify for JSA. The entitlement to contribution-based JSA only lasts six months. Thereafter, the benefit is means tested, which results in many people losing the right to the benefit.

Indicator last updated: 13 October 2010

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Other indicators in Barking and Dagenham

Other indicators in Camden

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Other indicators in Enfield

Other indicators in Greenwich

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Glossary

Outer London:

Barking & Dagenham, Barnet, Bromley, Bexley, Brent, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton, Waltham Forest

Inner London:

Camden, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Haringey, Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth, Westminster

Read all glossary definitions

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