Back in 2022, we set out our priorities for the borough: fighting the climate crisis, tackling inequality, and creating good jobs. And the need locally for those good and well-paid jobs is clear.
Average earnings in our borough are some of the lowest in London, ranking 28th out of the 32 London boroughs. And, 2 in every 5 jobs in Ealing are in typically low-paid industries, like in retail, hospitality, and social care. This represents around 50,000 workers across the borough.
Rising costs and stagnant wages
Unfortunately, too many people in the UK are in low-paying jobs, with 3.5million people in the UK who are paid below the living wage. This landscape of low pay, paired with an ever-present cost of living crisis that has seen the prices of everyday essentials like the weekly shop, utility bills, and rent or mortgage payments, means that those necessities are unaffordable for many working families.
This cocktail of rising costs and stagnant wages means that some of our most financially vulnerable residents are left at higher risk of needing to use a foodbank, takeout costly loans, or fall behind on their rent and mortgage payments. In Ealing, we have seen a huge spike in the number of families in the borough who have no choice but to approach us for emergency help with housing and financial support.
Target of 10,000 jobs
Our Council Plan, which we published in 2022, illustrates the ways that we will work towards our main goal – making sure that everyone can live a long, healthy, happy life, in communities full of pride and identity. Key to this goal is ensuring that everyone working in the borough has the opportunity to work locally and earn a decent living income, so they don’t need to rely on in work benefits and food banks to get by. We want to make sure that those good and well-paid jobs are available for residents in all our 7 towns so that everyone can benefit from the economic growth and prosperity that we are looking to create.
We’ve already made great progress over the last 2 years, creating almost 5,000 good and well-paid jobs and we’re setting ourselves up to hit 10,000 by 2026. Later this year, we will announce our new jobs and skills plan, which will set out how we intend to maximise employment opportunities by getting the most out of the borough’s outstanding transport links, talented workforce, and rich cultural and industrial heritage.
London Living Wage
Our campaign to drive up the number of employers in the borough that pay their staff the London Living Wage has already helped to boost the pay packets of almost 800 residents. This is thanks to the almost 60 local businesses that have signed up to pay the London Living Wage with both them and their staff benefiting from a boost in pay and productivity, stronger recruitment, and improved retention.
And we’re encouraging even more local businesses to sign up by offering to offset the cost of 2 years’ accreditation with the Living Wage Foundation by providing a reduction in business rates once they have signed up.
Our Ealing Living Wage Action Group is hard at work finalising the action plan and collaborating with local businesses and workers, as we continue to create a borough where our residents have the means to change their lives for the better by having access the decent living incomes that they need and deserve.
If you’d like to find out more about the London Living Wage, and how to sign up, visit the council’s website.
