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Read John McDermott's analysis of the capital, and why he thinks it is vital that there is more London for everyone
The Motherhood Penalty Mothers in the capital with dependent children have an employment rate of 53 per cent, compared to 65 per cent for those across the UK. The costs of going back to work after maternity leave simply do not outweigh the benefits of staying at home. This is hardly surprising given that average annual childcare bill in the capital is a staggering £14,000—significantly higher than the rest of the UK. The London premium that can be identified among other sectors of the workforce is therefore significantly lower for working mothers, who are more likely to look for part-time work to fit in with their families. Yet, in London four in ten part-time jobs are low paid, compared to just one in ten of full-time jobs. High transport costs make the transition into part-time work appear even less favourable. A monthly zones 1 to 6 travelcard eats up around a fifth of monthly earnings on the national minimum wage, and part-time workers are more likely to commute by bus and underground than their full-time counterparts. It is clear that more must be done to ensure travel options meet the needs of all Londoners.Achieving the modest target of bringing London’s maternal employment rate in line with the rest of the country would bring an additional 100,000 working mothers into London’s workforce, benefiting the economy, household, and indeed working mothers themselves. David Lammy, MP for Tottenham, @DavidLammy
The living wage One simple thing that would improve the lives of Londoners: jobs. We need to get the huge number of unemployed people in London back to work. But low-paid jobs, or insecure part-time jobs, aren’t good enough and the number of people in part time jobs who want full-time work is at a record high, at around 1.5 million. Instead, we need jobs in thriving businesses paying the Living Wage, currently £8.80 an hour in London. Ed Miliband has said if Labour wins the next election, companies will get a 12-month tax break worth up to £1,000 for each worker if employers agree to pay the living wage. London’s young people also need help. Between June and August, almost a million young people aged 16-24 in the UK were unemployed, up 0.5 per cent from the same period last year and there are high numbers of 16-24 year old Job Seekers Allowance claimants in London. It was over a year ago that we hosted London 2012. The government promised us a lasting legacy, not least in terms of decent jobs for young people. That promise is long overdue. Rushanara Ali, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow @rushanaraali
HS2 will unite the country London needs HS2. Our kingdom is not united. There are two countries, London and the South East and the rest. This is not a bid for London to declare UDI but more a recognition of the massive gap between the two. Nobody can afford to live in London any more—average housing costs are double those outside the capital. House prices rose by nearly ten per cent in London last year while in Scotland and much of the North they are still falling. London is a pressure cooker with no relief valve. Schooling, health care, policing, housing are all at bursting point. Life expectancy in east London is four years less than in the uber affluent West. The city is expected to add another million citizens by 2025. We can’t go on like this. HS2 is the only solution. As we enlarge the capital’s travel to work area we allow more people to live further away but travel quickly when they need to. Housing is cheap and plentiful around Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and the East Midlands. We allow the regions to share the benefits London brings as a world capital but they can also share the burden. HS2 gives us one country not two. Steven Norris, former MP for Epping and London mayoral candidate @StephenJNorris
Look to Germany London’s high cost of living means it has the highest proportion of people in debt, with some forced to rely on extortionately expensive payday loans and unauthorised overdrafts. Government must do more to clean up the credit market, for example by banning excessive default charges. But London also needs a new generation of credit unions like London Mutual, which offer short-term loans for a fraction of the cost but remains a small player in the market. The city should look to Germany, where a network of 430 credit union-style banks, supported by a common IT and risk-pooling infrastructure, account for 30 per cent of the consumer credit market. Sonia Sodha, head of public services, Which? @soniasodha
Reform council tax The mansion tax continues to wander its miserable way across the political landscape, half-loved, half-repellent. It is a mad impost, proposed (mostly by Liberal Democrats) at two per cent on fewer than 100,000 properties over £2m. The bulk of which are in London. It would require a new register and yield no more than £2bn, drawing howls of protest from every property-rich but cash-poor householder. Far better to do as Wales did in 2005, and simply add new council tax bands on top of the final H band (which has a threshold of roughly £1m), the new bands rising progressively from £1m upwards. The incidence would be lower than the mansion tax but begin earlier and rise more steeply. This would raise more money overall. No one could decently argue that it is unfair. Current council tax for properties over £1m is a fraction of what the rates were (even in cash terms) when abolished in 1989. Finally, the revenue should go to local government and not need a separate collection regime. Councils have born the brunt of recent spending cuts. Their budgets would acquire added "democratic bite" by rich voters being expected to bear a fairer share of local taxation.Simon Jenkins, Chairman of the National Trust, @simonjenkins4
