The Work and Money Worries report, published yesterday (7 October), showed that 56% of young women, between the ages of 18 and 30, felt optimistic about work, compared with 64% of young men.
The same ratio of women to men felt that they had the support they needed to progress in their careers.
Meanwhile 26% of young women reported that they stayed in a job they didn’t enjoy because they couldn’t afford to leave; 20% of young men indicated the same. Nearly two fifths (19%) of young women reported putting off changing careers, compared with 15% of young men.
"Young women are being let down by a working world that is not giving them the support and opportunities they need to build financially secure lives, with rewarding, fairly paid jobs," Charlotte Woodworth, gender equality director at responsible business charity Business in the Community, told HR magazine.
"Women are hit by some of the worse effects of the rising cost of living, and are significantly more likely to feel on their own when it comes to thinking about their next steps."
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The barriers that women face in the workplace could also contribute to young women's low satisfaction at work, Sharon Peake, CEO at gender equality consultancy Shape Talent, explained.
Speaking to HR magazine, she said: “Women experience greater barriers than men professionally; a combination of societal, organisational and personal barriers.
“These include discrimination, lack of development support from leaders, the double burden of paid and unpaid work and the double bind of being expected to operate within a narrowly defined range of behaviours to avoid being penalised.
“We also know that the gender pay gap persists, caused by a combination of women being underrepresented in the highest paying jobs, as well as women receiving lower pay for work of equal value, despite this being unlawful.”
The Young Women’s Trust research suggested that more young women than young men were worried about their finances and housing.
Nearly a third (32%) of young women reported that their hopes for the future had got worse over the past 12 months, compared with 25% of young men. A fifth (18%) of young women described their mental health as poor or very poor.
Employers should consult young women about what they need from their work, Peake added.
“Organisations can help by actively working to ensure psychological safety in the workplace and soliciting feedback from young women at work on what they need,” she continued.
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Employers should ensure that the roles young women do are fairly compensated and provide clear progression opportunities, Woodworth commented.
"Employers should review their approach to settings salaries, probing whether the roles that women – younger women in particular – are more likely to work in are paid properly, and root out any discrimination that sees these jobs paid less in comparison to those typically done by men.
"They should also check the training and development offered to different groups of employees; organisations can accidentally ‘cut out’ young women who are more likely to work in less secure, lower-status jobs that have less access to progression opportunities.
"Employers must also do more to address other hurdles; that includes embracing salary transparency, ensuring managers are trained to take an inclusive approach at work, and toughening up action on sexual harassment."
The Young Women’s Trust surveyed 3,977 young women (aged 18-30) and 1,051 young men in England and Wales between 22 July and 3 August 2024.
