{"schemaVersion":"1.0","type":"DataStory","id":"when-work-does-not-cover-london","title":"When work does not cover London","description":"Employment, claimant rates, resident earnings and rent burden move on different clocks.","introduction":"A strong employment rate can coexist with household strain. Labour surveys, administrative claimant counts, pay estimates and sampled rents use different denominators, but together they expose the distance between having work and affording place.","category":"Money and business","canonical":"https://londongraph.com/story/when-work-does-not-cover-london","markdown":"https://londongraph.com/story/when-work-does-not-cover-london/index.html.md","updatedAt":"2026-08-02T22:02:46.546Z","caveat":"Survey estimates carry uncertainty, claimants are not everyone without work, and ratios of borough medians do not represent an individual household budget.","evidence":[{"dataset":"londons-labour-market","graphSlug":"londons-labour-market","label":"Labour market","text":"Resident employment, unemployment and inactivity estimates with published reliability information.","shape":"latest","graph":"https://londongraph.com/g/londons-labour-market","claim":{"dataset":"londons-labour-market","graphSlug":"londons-labour-market","label":"Labour market","text":"Resident employment, unemployment and inactivity estimates with published reliability information.","headlineLabel":"Employment rate","value":74.8,"unit":"%","period":"Apr 2025-Mar 2026","comparisonLabel":"Economic inactivity rate","comparisonValue":20.2,"caveat":null,"release":{"updatedAt":"2026-08-01T15:20:42.782Z","resourceUrl":"https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/api/v01/dataset/NM_17_5.data.json","methodologyUrl":"https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/datasets/apsnew","releaseLabel":"Oct 2024-Sep 2025","sourcePublishedAt":null,"resourceChecksum":"1aa079a21cc22039a8941102e82e012efeb73987b36e4cd75e9e1cc1c26dc727"}}},{"dataset":"claimant-rate-by-borough","graphSlug":"claimant-rate-by-borough","label":"Claimant rate","text":"Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16–64 by borough.","shape":"area","metric":"value","unit":"%","graph":"https://londongraph.com/g/claimant-rate-by-borough","claim":null},{"dataset":"borough-earnings","graphSlug":"earnings-by-borough","label":"Resident earnings","text":"Median annual pay for residents in the latest comparable release.","shape":"area","metric":"value","unit":"GBP a year","graph":"https://londongraph.com/g/earnings-by-borough","claim":null},{"dataset":"rent-versus-pay","graphSlug":"rent-versus-pay","label":"Rent burden","text":"Two-bedroom median rent as a share of resident median annual earnings.","shape":"area","metric":"two_bedrooms_burden_percent","unit":"%","graph":"https://londongraph.com/g/rent-versus-pay","claim":{"dataset":"rent-versus-pay","graphSlug":"rent-versus-pay","label":"Rent burden","text":"Two-bedroom median rent as a share of resident median annual earnings.","headlineLabel":"Kensington and Chelsea","value":81.3,"unit":"%","period":"Private Rental Market in London: April 2025 to March 2026","comparisonLabel":"London median","comparisonValue":51.05,"caveat":null,"release":{"updatedAt":"2026-08-02T22:02:46.546Z","resourceUrl":"https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/economy/inflationandpriceindices/adhocs/3389privaterentalmarketinlondonapril2025tomarch2026/londonrentalstatsaccessibleq12026.xlsx","methodologyUrl":"https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/adhocs/3389privaterentalmarketinlondonapril2025tomarch2026","releaseLabel":"Private Rental Market in London: April 2025 to March 2026","sourcePublishedAt":null,"resourceChecksum":"48d2789987145f0d4575d6d3d5544deb3ec56ceb0746dd388a356787e46009ef"}}}],"sources":[{"name":"Nomis / ONS APS","url":"https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/datasets/apsnew","graphSlug":"londons-labour-market"},{"name":"Nomis","url":"https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/datasets/ucjsa","graphSlug":"claimant-rate-by-borough"},{"name":"ONS","url":"https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours","graphSlug":"earnings-by-borough"},{"name":"ONS / Nomis","url":"https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/adhocs/3389privaterentalmarketinlondonapril2025tomarch2026","graphSlug":"rent-versus-pay"}]}