İşçi Partili Londra büyükşehir belediye başkanı adayı Tessa Jowell
More Londoners than ever before are working in two jobs to make ends meets, according to figures released this week.
Almost 150,000 workers in Britain’s capital are now holding a second job, a 50 per cent rise from 94,000 ten years ago.
The figures come from Tessa Jowell, the Labour mayoral candidate, who is calling for powers to be given to London’s City Hall so that it can set a higher minimum wage for London.
She told the Evening Standard: “Low pay is forcing tens of thousands of Londoners to work two jobs to provide for their families.
“Two-job Londoners — at least 10,000 of them social care workers — are the hidden heroes of our city working all they can to keep our city going and keep food on the table.
“This is the clearest evidence of the crying need for a London minimum wage that recognises the much higher cost of living in London.
“I want every Londoner to be paid a living wage. This is why, as mayor, I will demand the right to set a higher minimum wage for London and I will also use the buying power of the GLA group to ensure that every company we contract with pays their staff a living wage.”
Ms Jowell pledged to ensure every company contracted by City Hall paid its staff the London Living Wage (£9.15 an hour, £2.65 more than the national minimum wage).
Most of those Londoners seeking extra work are in traditionally low paid roles in the care sector, retail and hospitality.
However, firefighters and police officers are among the better paid workers known to take on second roles, the paper reported.