London’s most deprived neighbourhoods have seen many of the largest percentage increases in residents claiming unemployment benefits during the pandemic, with parts of Haringey, Brent, Newham and Kensington & Chelsea seeing rises of 12% and more.
Analysis of official figures and deprivation measures for charity Trust for London shows that the 10% most deprived local areas in the capital have seen an average percentage point rise in claimants of 7.1% during the 12 months ending in August, compared with just 2.5% in the least deprived 10%.
The analysis, by WPI Economics, ranks five of Haringey’s lower super output areas (LSOAs) – localities smaller than electoral wards – in the ten that have seen the biggest increases in their proportion of claimants, along with three in Brent.
Many parts of Newham have seen increases of 10% or more, as have single LSOAs in Croydon, Ealing, Lambeth, Redbridge and Barking & Dagenham, Waltham Forest, Lewisham and Barnet.
At the opposite end of the scale, other parts of Barnet and Kensington & Chelsea, a number in Camden and Westminster and individual LSOAs in Havering, Southwark and Hammersmith & Fulham have seen increases of less than 1%.
The data are in line with recent national analysis of a Covid-period connection between deprivation and joblessness and follow a study published by Trust for London in July which explored the link between deprivation and mortality rates in the capital.
Trust for London has produced an interactive map showing the claimant level percentage points change for every one of London’s 4,835 LSOAs.
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