Research by Young Women’s Trust shows a clear picture of young women feeling ignored by politicians and untrusting of the government to respond to the issues they face.
In a recent survey for Young Women’s Trust carried out by Yonder Data Solutions, just 8% of young women aged 18 to 30 said that they believed the government was addressing their needs, more than twice as low as the figure for young women (18%).
61% of young women reported they felt ignored by politicians, 70% of young women said that their confidence in politicians has got worse in the last 12 months, and this rose to 80% among young women with a disability or long-term health condition.
Before the pandemic, young women were already facing discrimination and inequality that stopped them from fulfilling their potential. The last 12 months have seen these challenges grow as 1.5 million young women lost income. Growing pressures around finances, caring responsibilities have contributed to 69% of young women claiming benefits doing so for the first time. Half of young mums were unable to get or keep a job because of childcare costs and 35% of young women single parents reported skipping meals to make ends meet. Just 11% of young women and 16% of young men said they had confidence in the government’s response to coronavirus.
Ahead of the forthcoming local, mayoral and Welsh Assembly elections Young Women’s Trust is giving representatives from the six political parties the opportunity to answer the question ‘how do we ensure no young woman is left behind?’
The event will be chaired by Maya Oppenheim, The Independent’s Women’s Correspondent with a political panel including Charlotte Nichols- Labour’s Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, Claire Bonham- Liberal Democrat London Assembly Candidate for Croydon and Sutton, Amelia Womack- Deputy Leader of the Green Party, Nadine Marshall, Plaid Cymru’s Candidate for South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, Mandu Reid- Leader of Women’s Equality Party and a representative from the Conservative Party (invited).
Mark Gale, Policy and Campaigns Manager at Young Women’s Trust said:
“Young women, especially those struggling to live in low or no pay, have reached crisis point after a year of seeing their voices and needs largely ignored during the pandemic. As lockdown restrictions begin to ease the focus is rightly shifting to how to build back after the crisis. At Young Women’s Trust we’re clear that this can’t mean just a return to how things were. This is a chance to hear from politicians and to ask them about their plans to ensure that, as the country rebuilds, no young woman is left behind.”
Register for the event (free) on Thursday 22 April 2021, 5.30pm to 7.00pm
Note to editors
A survey was carried out for Young Women’s Trust by Yonder Data solutions (previously named Populus Data Solutions). A representative sample of 4,020 18 to 30 year olds in England and Wales, with panel services provided by Populus Live, were surveyed between 28 September and 12 October 2020. In addition, a booster sample of 568 was carried out among Black and Mixed Ethnicity respondents. Findings were significance tested at 95%
