YOUNG WOMEN’S TRUST – WRITTEN EVIDENCE (YUN0021)
Youth Unemployment Committee inquiry
How do we create and protect jobs for young people?
1.1. Young Women's Trust is a feminist organisation working to achieve economic justice for young women. We offer support to young women aged 18-30, who are living on low or no pay and want to build a better future. We campaign for young women’s equality in the workplace and our research examines what young women’s lives are really like.
1.2. Young women are at the centre of the charity’s work: leading, designing and participating and this is reflected in this response. Statistics are included from a survey carried out by Yonder Data Solutions between 28 September and 12 October 2020. This included a representative sample of 4,020 18-30 year olds in England and Wales. In addition, a booster sample of 568 was carried out among Black and Mixed Ethnicity respondents.
1.3. Quotes from young women are included which are taken from a survey hosted on our website between 27 January and 19 February 2021, receiving 315 responses from young women aged 18-30. Although not set up as a nationally representative survey of young women, the findings provide important insight into the challenges faced by many young women at this point in time. Quotes are taken from the survey and have been anonymised where young women have asked us to protect their identity.
1.4. This response also includes quotes from in-depth interviews conducted by young women peer researchers with 36 young women who had used our Work it Out coaching and CV feedback service, gaining unique, honest insights into how the pandemic is affecting young women one year on from the first lockdown. We have also included insight from applications to our Emergency Fund over the last year. The fund provided relief payments to help young women aged 18-30 who were facing financial crisis and struggling to afford essentials such as food, utilities and rent.
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on young women’s employment, finances and mental health. It should not be ignored however that young women were facing significant structural barriers to employment even before the pandemic. Significant gender segregation artificially narrows young women’s options. The pernicious nature of discrimination and harassment limit young women’s progression and impacts on their mental health, confidence, and aspirations. This is made worse by the prevalence of low-paid, insecure work with limited rights and support which often means young women feel less able to challenge discrimination and all to often forces young women out jobs. And a lack of meaningful flexibility combines with high costs of childcare to prevent many young women working, further limiting their opportunities for future work and progression.
2.1. Gender segregation
Young women are disproportionately likely to work in sectors such as care, domestic work and hospitality. High levels of insecurity and low pay in these sectors puts young women at risk of job losses and leaves them exposed to the risks of economic downturn.
This segregation is evident at all levels of work and it limits current pay and future progression. For example, data from the Department for Education shows that young women continue to earn less than their male counterparts for years after they finish an apprenticeship with much of this difference explained by the sectors in which young women do their apprenticeships[1]. This suggests an urgent need to boost the pay and progression in those sectors and tackle gender segregation if we are to improve young women’s future employment opportunities.
2.2. Discrimination, harassment, and abuse
“My age and my gender were a massive factor. The sexual harassment was me and another girl that reported. Just kind of gutted that I pushed, and nothing came through. Other females are still going through the bullying because the store manager wouldn’t let it go through. It’s probably pushed aside.”
Young Women’s Trust has consistently heard from young women who have experienced a whole range of sexism and discrimination - from finding it harder to get roles in the first place, having their opinions and contributions marginalised or the ongoing issue of sexual harassment in the workplace. It is clear this undermines young women’s confidence and potential and can threaten to destroy their careers before they’ve even started.
There are many reasons for this continued sexism and discrimination. There remains a lack of diversity in many organisations, especially at senior levels where women are underrepresented which can often create a blindness to the challenges women are facing in the workplace. Meanwhile, there often exists a complacent assumption that this sort of sexist behaviour is a thing of the past. Our research shows it is anything but and the first step in dealing with this issue is recognising and understanding the causes, and taking a proactive approach.
But it is the growth low paid, insecure work that has provided most concern for young women. This has made it harder young women to speak out when they do face sexism and discrimination at work, with many for example fearing raising issues of sexual harassment would put the jobs at risk.
Our recent research[2] shows that:
2.3. Poor levels of support for mental health needs
“My mental health suffered… so when I was off work for long stretches of time I had to be on sick pay. This wasn't sufficient to support me, so I tried to go back to work as soon as I could, but probably before I was ready. Eventually because I knew I would struggle to pay rent on sick pay and didn't know when I would be able to return to work fully, I left my job and moved in with my parents”
Young women also report a lack of understanding and support from employers with regard to healthcare needs, particularly relating to mental health. Our research has further shown that there are clear links between poor quality work and mental health and that poor mental health outcomes make it harder for young women to stay in work and seek new employment options when they are unemployed.[3]
2.4. Lack of meaningful flexibility and unaffordable childcare
“The childcare is very expensive. If you can’t afford the childcare, you can only work weekends or nights, this is really difficult for mothers to be with their child all day then go to work for the night shift in a factory. There’s nothing to choose, there’s no good jobs we can do really”
“Even though I’m getting paid more, I was actually better off part-time financially because I’m spending more money on childcare, more money on travel. In my head I was moving forward, getting a proper job, going to get a better salary, but the reality of it is, you know, I’m struggling with money all the time. This shouldn’t be the case.”
The cost of childcare remains a significant factor in keeping parents out of work. Our research shows that many young mums have had to leave work or turn down job offers because they could not find appropriate, affordable care.[4] This is made worse by the lack of meaningful flexibility with one in three mums having a request for flexible working rejected.
The deep impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on society and the economy has had a devastating effect on young women’s work, finances, and mental health. The pandemic has exacerbated the existing inequality they face with catastrophic consequences and has laid bare the increasing stress on young women’s finances; the challenges of juggling work, childcare, and other caring responsibilities; and the pressure cooker of a growing mental health crisis.
3.1. Young women working in sectors exposed to economic risk
“I lost my job after the first lockdown, well not only my job but my whole career (I worked in the events industry). I took a full-time job in a pub but then was subsequently furloughed. I apply to about 50 jobs a week and hear nothing back from most of them. I feel like the pandemic has ruined my life in some way and my mental health has never been this bad.”
“I work in theatre and had been progressing towards my dream role. When theatres were closed, I was made redundant and it took me several months to find alternative employment. Having now taken a significant pay cut, I worry about our financial situation and whether I will be able to achieve my career goals at all.”
Our survey of young women found that one in five have lost their job or future work. Those who continue to work, especially young women in precarious employment or unable to work from home, remain vulnerable and continue to face unsafe working conditions that require them to work without proper social distancing, safety procedures or protective equipment. These unsafe conditions exacerbate power imbalances and the risks young women already faced in insecure work, such as sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
3.2. Discrimination in furlough and redundancy decisions
“I’ve been shielding since 23 March 2020. I was forced to leave my job because I felt unsafe and I have been turned down at interviews for having a disability and needing to shield. I asked if I could work from home as it was an office-based role, they said no.”
“I had to take two weeks off to self-isolate after my mum caught Covid for the second time from her work in a care home. Work were nasty to me and accused me of lying. The financial hit from this was devastating and I am still trying to catch up now on bills I was forced behind on.”
Young women have told us that furlough practices have exposed inequalities in their workplaces and that they continue to face discrimination. Many women, especially mothers, were likely to have to ask to be furloughed due to caring responsibilities. Others have told us that gender discrimination was evident in the way in which employers placed employees on furlough, with young women frequently returning to full pay later than male colleagues
3.3. Increases in unpaid work
“My partner has been signed off work for six months, being treated for anxiety as a direct result of lockdown. My father was admitted to a psychiatric hospital after attempting suicide three times as a direct result of lockdown. This has increased my unofficial caring responsibilities in my family. I have been juggling this with caring for my own small child and trying to work from home full time. This, plus the separation from friends for support, has definitely impacted the decline in my mental health.”
Prior to the pandemic, young women were already carrying a disproportionate responsibility for unpaid work such as cooking, cleaning and taking care of children. Our research has found that in financial terms this was worth £132bn annually, demonstrating the huge pressures young women were already facing.
These pressures have only intensified over the last 12 months as young women have seen their caring responsibilities grow over the course of the pandemic. Restrictions on household mixing have meant caring for vulnerable relatives has been falling on fewer people, whilst the closure of schools and many early years settings has increased pressure on mothers in particular. The additional caring responsibilities have affected the ability of many young women to work, whilst others have faced hostility and discrimination from employers. The combined effect of this has been to further increase the pressure on young women’s finances and mental health.
3.4. Impact on mental health of young women
“There has been next to no support for young people, and the mental health services that were suffering before the pandemic have been hit even worse, meaning accessing them is next to impossible.”
“I have struggled a lot with my mental health, as well as two job losses due to the lockdown. I have lost out on mental health support due to the first lockdown. Now I am struggling to get the help I need due to waiting times and delays. People with pre-existing mental health issues seem to have been forgotten.”
The combined impacts of rising unemployment, falling income and increased caring responsibilities during a global pandemic (that has created fear and uncertainty in and of itself), have been highlighted in young women’s growing concerns about their mental health. Mental health services were already under pressure but have faced growing demand at a time when face-to-face support has been scaled back and young women’s access to their existing support frequently curtailed.
During the last 12 months there are few people who have been unaffected by the challenges the pandemic has created. However, young women, already beset by inequality, discrimination and uncertainty, have been left exposed to some of the worst impacts.
We must, of course, act with urgency to provide the immediate support young women need to ride out the ongoing crisis. The Government has said it will do ‘whatever it takes’ to ‘build back better’. If it is serious about doing so it must address the inequalities that left young women at risk in the first place.
We must first seek to understand the developing situation with regards to redundancies and the shifting focus of the labour market. We must also provide the essential financial support that will help young women ride the tide of the current downturn and leave them in a better position to benefit as the economy recovers. And as we look to the future we, must ensure that no young woman is left behind as the process of rebuilding begins, ensuring that out of the recovery grows an economy for all.
4.1. Understanding the ongoing impact
As job losses rise, it is important to understand the impact these are having on young people and to ensure transparency in the decision-making process. We are calling on the Government to publish national level redundancy data broken down to show the impact on those with protected characteristics. Employers should also be required to publish their own redundancy data.
The Government response can be more effective if it also understands the impact of its own decisions. We are calling for increased transparency and effectiveness through the publication of Equalities Impact Assessments of all major policies and laws.
And as the Government’s Kickstart scheme begins to create employment opportunities, monitoring must include publication of data that shows the number of opportunities taken up by young women and those with other protected characteristics.
4.2. Providing essential financial support
Extending the £20 uplift on Universal Credit by only 6 months was a missed opportunity to provide the support many young women desperately need. Rather than cutting benefits in a few months, the uplift should be made permanent and extended to all those receiving benefits, including Carer’s Allowance. Additional support should be made available to help young women pay off or write off debts that have risen due to the pandemic.
4.3. Prioritising support services
Mental health services and services supporting survivors of domestic abuse have been devastated by the pandemic, despite seeing a surge in demand. These services have never been more needed and are vital to support women to find work, stay in work and achieve financial independence. We call on the Government to provide emergency funding to these services and commit to long-term funding reform to ensure their survival.
4.4. Invest in quality jobs and training for young women
The pandemic has highlighted the huge inequalities facing young women. Low paid, precarious and inflexible work has limited the opportunities of young women for too long and left them exposed to the worst of the economic impacts of the crisis.
As unemployment among young people rises we must look to create jobs that include strong protections for workers’ rights and are flexible by default, well paid and offering meaningful opportunities for progression. This should include investing in the care economy to improve job security, pay and progression for the largely female cohort of care workers. We must invest in apprenticeships that are overwhelmingly creating employment for young people with targets and incentives used to drive employer behaviour and we must provide an answer to the entrenched gender segregation that has undermined economic growth.
4.5. Investing in a childcare revolution
Even before the pandemic, the childcare system was in disarray. Young women were shut out of opportunities because of the cost of childcare and many providers have been pushed to the wall because of the crisis. We call on the Government to create a childcare infrastructure support fund to provide urgent support to prevent childcare providers from closing. This should lay the foundation for an overhaul of the funding system with the aim of creating a universal free childcare system.
10th May 2021
[1] Department for Education (2018) Further Education: Outcome based success measures, academic years 2010/11 to 2015/16 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/ government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/748305/FE_learners__ outcome_based_success_measures.pdf
[2] https://www.youngwomenstrust.org/media-centre/one-in-three-female-bosses-say-sexist-behaviour-still-exists-in-their-organisation/
[3] https://www.youngwomenstrust.org/our-research/its-still0-a-rich-mans-world/
[4] https://www.youngwomenstrust.org/our-research/childcare-what-young-women-want/