Today, the Chancellor announced a series of economic measures in response to the cost of living crisis, including cuts in income tax, more detail on the £60bn energy package, and requirements on people on benefits working less than 15 hours per week to take steps to increase their earnings.
Claire Reindorp, Chief Executive of Young Women’s Trust, said:
“Young women will welcome much-needed extra support with energy bills; so many of them have been telling us they’re filled with dread about their finances. But let’s be clear: this budget doesn’t do nearly enough to help young women get through the winter, let alone setting them on a path to a fairer financial future.
“Young women are at the sharp end of the financial crisis because they earn so much less than young men, and tax cuts which disproportionately benefit higher-earning men aren’t going to help them.
Cutting benefits for those who are only able to work part-time is not the solution either. Young women say they want to work more hours, but often can’t because childcare costs far more than they’d earn. We eagerly await the promised announcement on childcare and hope it will contain universal, affordable provision with the flexibility that young women working shifts and with unpredictable hours need.
Young women have the potential, drive and talent to be the engine of economic growth. Yet they’re more likely to be in low paid jobs, doing unpaid work that can restrict them to part-time hours, and facing sexism which holds them back from earning a fair wage and getting promoted. To unlock their potential, we need long term investment in childcare, decent wages, and support for young women to enter and get on in the workplace.”
Note to editors
Figures from Just Getting By: Young Women’s Trust Annual Survey 2022, a survey of 4,075 young women aged 18 to 30, carried out by Yonder Data Solutions on behalf of Young Women’s Trust between 11 and 19 April 2022, showed that:
- 52% of young women are ‘filled with dread’ at the state of their finances
- Almost 3 in 10 young women are worried about not having enough paid hours
- 42% of young women have faced discrimination at work or when looking for work
- A quarter (25%) of young women said that a lack of flexibility has made it difficult for them to apply for a job.
