The tenure of Boris Johnson has been “truly disastrous” for millions of female Londoners, Labour claimed today.
A report by the party said women were more likely to be out of a job, earning less, and paying more for childcare since Mr Johnson first entered City Hall. Labour said it was an indictment of his “hands-off approach”.
But Mr Johnson’s office said he was doing a lot to break down barriers faced by women.
Recent official statistics showed men were being paid 13 per cent more than women across London, as the gender wage gap widened.
Shadow minister for London, Sadiq Khan, said the report underlined the need to appoint a deputy mayor dedicated to tackling gender inequality.
“The Mayor’s record has been truly disastrous for millions of female Londoners,” he added. “I have two young daughters and it upsets me that their lives will be more difficult just because of their gender.
“I want them to have the same chance of succeeding as their male friends in the city they call home.”
The Labour report said that the unemployment rate for women rose from 7.2 per cent in 2008 to 8.7 per cent this year. It added that the number of unemployed women in London had remained steady in the past 12 months, while the number of unemployed men had decreased by about a fifth.
The report said that average real earnings for women in London had declined from £625 a month to £575, a seven per cent drop, almost double the four per cent fall in the rest of the UK. The proportion of London women in work but earn less than the London Living Wage — £8.80 — increased from 14 per cent in 2008 to 20 per cent this year, the report said.
It claimed that the cost of childcare had soared by 40 to 50 per cent for under-twos and by more than 60 per cent for over-twos.
Daisy Sands, head of policy and campaigns at equal rights group the Fawcett Society, said: “Across a number of key indicators, the picture for women in London is more pronounced than the UK picture.”
A spokesman for the Mayor said: “He wants to reduce the employment gap between groups of Londoners by gender, parenthood, ethnicity, disability and age, and his economic development strategy seeks to break down the barriers faced by women.”
