Charity calls for Labour to listen to young women as part of new plans
The charity Young Women’s Trust welcomes plans unveiled by Labour in the Kings Speech to “take the brakes off Britain” and make work pay, and urges that young women’s voices should be included in the design of new policies.
Young women earn a fifth less than young men each year and this income gap of £4000 is driven by women’s work being under valued and promotions hard to come by. In the latest annual survey the charity found:
- Over a third (36%) of young women said that they were worried about job security
- Young women are more likely than young men to be on precarious, zero-hours contracts
- Nearly half (49%) of young women told said that they are worried that they don’t have the opportunities to progress.
- Half of young women still report discrimination in the workplace.
The Government have announced plans to introduce a new deal for working people by:
- Banning exploitative zero hours contracts
- Introducing basic rights from day one to parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal
- Strengthening the collective voice of workers including through trade unions
- Creating a Single Enforcement Body to ensure employment rights are upheld
- Introducing a race equality act to ensure equal pay for Black and racially minoritised people.
Young Women’s Trust want to ensure that, as young women are disproportionately affected by low paid and insecure work, their specific needs are considered in these policies, which Labour have promised to introduce within the first 100 days.
Claire Reindorp, chief executive at Young Women’s Trust, said: “We welcome the plans announced in the Kings Speech today. What’s important now is that young women – who are most impacted by these changes – are included in the design of the policies. In the Labour manifesto, they promised that “women’s equality will be at the heart of their missions” and the first ever female Chancellor Rachel Reeves recognised that for too long women have been excluded from economic policy making. Young women are ready to have their say about how to make work pay and their voices need to be heard.
“Young women earn £4000 less than young men each year. They’re more likely to be on zero hours contracts and in insecure work, and it’s much harder for them to progress. We hope the plans announced today will help fix the broken rung on the career ladder and support young women to reach their full potential, boosting our economy.”
