Low wage rates and low job opportunities are a perfect storm for the women of Thanet says Labour Party candidate The Labour Party in Thanet are calling for the participation levels in the local labour market to be bolstered to those of surrounding areas in Kent and the South East.
Employment rates in Thanet are 72.5%, significantly lower than Maidstone, 81.8% and Dartford, 81.3%, the two highest areas in Kent and below the South East figure of 77.3%. The figures for women follow a similar pattern. In Thanet female employment rates are 68.3%, well below Maidstone, 77.1% and Dartford, 72.8%, the two highest areas in Kent with the highest rates and below the South East at 72.5%.
Last week research published showed average earnings in Thanet were at the bottom of the Kent pay league. These latest figures showing participation levels in Kent follow a similar pattern, for example, those with the lowest average earnings are the same areas with the lowest employment rates.
Set out in the tables below are the 2016 employment rates, total and female, for the 12 council areas in Kent ranked by those with the highest rates.
Annual Population Survey – Jul 2015-Jun 2016 ONS Crown Copyright Reserved Employment rate – aged 16-64
number
%
United Kingdom 30,161,300
73.7
London 4,317,900
73.2
South East 4,270,500
77.3
Kent 694,400
74.9
rank
1
Maidstone 83,700
81.8
2
Dartford 55,600
81.3
3
Tonbridge and Malling 61,000
79.9
4
Tunbridge Wells 55,600
79.0
5
Sevenoaks 53,800
76.7
6
Shepway 47,800
75.5
7
Ashford 54,200
74.7
8
Swale 63,400
73.8
9
Dover 50,200
73.2
10
Thanet 59,400
72.5
11
Gravesham 47,100
70.2
12
Canterbury 62,600
62.6
Employment rate females – aged 16-64
number
%
United Kingdom 14,179,900
68.8
London 1,964,400
66.6
South East 2,018,200
72.5
Kent 323,600
68.8
rank
1
Maidstone 40,400
77.1
2
Dartford 24,900
72.8
3
Gravesham 25,100
71.9
4
Tunbridge Wells 25,000
71.4
5
Tonbridge and Malling 27,600
71.0
6
Dover 25,000
70.9
7
Sevenoaks 25,000
70.1
8
Ashford 24,600
69.0
9
Thanet 29,100
68.3
10
Shepway 20,700
66.9
11
Swale 27,800
63.7
12
Canterbury 28,200
55.4
The tables have been compiled by GMB Southern Region for Karen Constantine, Ramsgate Labour Party candidate for the Ramsgate ward for the 2017 Kent County Council elections. See notes to editors for sources and definitions.
Karen Constantine said “Low wage rates and low job opportunities are a perfect storm for the women of Thanet. This is a toxic situation where women can neither find decent job nor obtain decent wages. It means tighter household spending and ultimately it means family poverty. It’s time for central government to take coastal poverty seriously and a local plan that has sustainable economic regeneration as a priority.”
End
Contact: Karen Constantine on 07984 532212, Michelle Gordon on 07866 369259
Notes to Editors
1 Source: Annual Population Survey from the Office for National Statistics. Annual Population Survey is residence based and a continuous household survey covering the UK.
2 Press release from 28 October 2016
£24,150 AVERAGE EARNINGS FOR FULL TIME WORKERS RESIDENT IN THANET IS BOTTOM OF THE KENT PAY LEAGUE NEW OFFICIAL SURVEY SHOWS
Thanet’s economy needs to be thoroughly regenerated to bring to the area new well paid jobs that are part of the economy in London and other areas of the country says Labour Party candidate.
The median average pay for full-time workers resident in Thanet is £24,150 according to the new Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings published on 26 October 2016 by the Office for National Statistics.
This puts Thanet at the bottom of the average pay league for all council areas in Kent with those in Thanet earning £4,063 less than the UK average, £4,945 less than the Kent average and £9,222 less than those resident in Tonbridge and Malling.
The UK average annual earnings figure is £28,213, in London the figure is £33,776 and in Kent, £29,095.
Set out in the table below are the 2016 median annual earnings figures for the 12 council areas in Kent ranked by those with the highest median annual earnings.
The tables have been compiled by GMB Southern Region for Karen Constantine, Ramsgate Labour Party candidate for the Ramsgate ward for the 2017 Kent County Council elections. See notes to editors for sources and definitions and figures for the mean average earnings for the same areas.
Gross Annual Pay for full-time employees – 2016 Median pay
United Kingdom £28,213
London £33,776
South East £30,752
Kent £29,095
rank
1
Tonbridge and Malling £33,372
2
Dartford £32,233
3
Sevenoaks £30,989
4
Tunbridge Wells £29,962
5
Gravesham £29,623
6
Maidstone £29,592
7
Canterbury £27,949
8
Ashford £27,795
9
Swale £27,501
10
Dover £25,254
11
Shepway £24,527
12
Thanet £24,150
Karen Constantine said “Thanet’s economy needs to be thoroughly regenerated to bring to the area new well paid jobs that are part of the economy in London and other areas of the country.
This regeneration should be part of a much needed wider regeneration in East Kent. This will not happen by accident and requires a partnership between local and national government and between public and private sectors.
The people of Thanet have to demand that all elected political office holders in the area campaign for action from national and local government to lead the regeneration of the area to end the days of Thanet being at the bottom of the Kent league for pay.
I will lead the campaign for the gap between Thanet and other parts of the country, including London, to be closed. I will also seek to end the two tier workforce in the public sector so that contractor’s workers get the same terms and conditions as directly employed staff.”
3 Source: 2016 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings – residence based for all employee jobs. Table 8.7a, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics. Crown Copyright Reserved.
4 The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) is based on a 1% random sample of employee jobs (approximately 181,000 employees) taken from HM Revenue and Customs PAYE records. Information on earnings and hours is obtained from employers and treated confidentially. It covers all employee jobs in all industries and occupations across the whole of the United Kingdom. In 2016 information related to the pay period which included 13 April.
5 ASHE analyses for annual earnings relate to employees on adult rates of pay who have been in the same job for more than one year. ASHE does not cover the self-employed or the armed forces nor does it cover employees not paid during the reference period.6 Further details are available here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/
employmentandlabourmarket/ peopleinwork/ earningsandworkinghours/ bulletins/ annualsurveyofhoursandearnings /2016provisionalresults 7 The median figure is the average figure whereby 50% of values are above and 50% of values are below it ie the middle value. The mean figure is calculated by adding together all earnings in the survey area and dividing by the number of people.
8 Table showing Mean pay for council areas in Kent
Gross Annual Pay for full-time employees – 2016 Mean pay
United Kingdom £34,414
London £44,094
South East £38,286
Kent £35,405
rank
1
Sevenoaks £47,839
2
Tonbridge and Malling £42,034
3
Tunbridge Wells £40,951
4
Dartford £36,436
5
Maidstone £36,196
6
Canterbury £35,579
7
Gravesham £33,781
8
Ashford £33,066
9
Swale £30,415
10
Shepway £30,005
11
Thanet £29,825
12
Dover £29,440
