London city (state capital), contemporary issues - - Pictures
Like everything else about London, its current problems are also immense. The most obvious is the growing social polarization of the rich and the poor. The unemployment rate in London in 1996 was 10%, compared to the national unemployment average of about 7% for the United Kingdom. Much of this unemployment is a result of the decline in manufacturing jobs and manual and unskilled labor work, as substantial employment growth takes place in sectors such as advertising, marketing, and computing, which require technical and professional skills.
Recent government policies have accentuated the situation. As in other Western nations, cutting taxes has enriched a growing middle class and led to a consumer boom. But lower taxes have also meant less government spending on health, welfare, and public housing, which has weakened Britain's welfare state. The spending cuts in the social welfare areas have accentuated class differences, and the disparity is evident when contrasting expensive new developments like the Docklands with the decaying public housing complexes that have not been maintained to the proper standards. It remains to be seen whether national and metropolitan policies will attempt to bridge the growing gap between those who do and don't benefit from the new prosperity.
