No young woman left behind

Uplift young women: uplift benefits

1.5 million young women have lost income since the start of the pandemic with many claiming benefits for the first time.

The £20 Universal Credit uplift the government introduced in April 2020 has been a lifeline for thousands of young women. It has been the difference between young women getting medications, feeding their children, buying period products and even being able to remove themselves from abusive situations. Those receiving Carer’s Allowance and other support didn’t benefit.

Women sitting in a group

Now, young women need you

Extending the £20 a week uplift in Universal Credit for just 6 months doesn’t give young women security. It also fails to recognise the challenges facing those on other benefits, especially young women receiving Carer’s Allowance. 

Young women are calling on the government to permanently increase Universal Credit, not just for 6 months, and to increase Carer’s Allowance permanently too.

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Our latest research

Our report, Picking up the pieces shows how millions of young women across the country have struggled and felt ignored throughout this crisis and the toll it has taken on their careers, finances, home life and mental health.

The report includes real stories from young women, gathered by young women who trained and were paid as peer researchers, about what life has been like for them during the pandemic. It also looks at young women’s attitudes to the government and the role activism plays in their lives.

Read the report

Hear from young women

In this video made in April 2020, we meet Amie, Freya, Mehvash and Morgan. They talk honestly about the impact the pandemic has had on their lives.

Our calls to the government

Unemployment is rising and increasing number of young women are having to claim benefits, often for the first time.  

That’s why we’re calling for the government to make the £20 uplift to Universal Credit permanent and also extend it to other benefits, including Carer’s Allowance. 

We also want the government to ensure it understands how young women are being affected by Covid-19 and to set out a clear jobs plan for young women, with a greater focus on investing in jobs and training. 

As part of this we’re calling on the government to: 

  • Make employers publish their redundancy data by protected characteristics like age, sex or race so we can see who is being impacted by job losses. 
  • Monitor and publish data on who takes up the government’s Kickstart job placement scheme, broken down by industry as well as by sex, age and race. 
  • Undertake and publish equalities impact assessment of measures taken to respond to the Covid-19 crisis and the aftermath. Any inquiry into the crisis should include an assessment of the impact on those with protected characteristics. 

Explore the issues

Woman at a microphone

Smashing career stereotypes

We want to break down barriers to opportunities for young women, so they can smash career stereotypes and be anything they want to be.

Young women working together at a table

Building equal workplaces

Young women face discrimination at work every day. A third of young women have faced discrimination when looking for work or while working.

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