Our Work It Out service supports young women, especially those struggling to live on low or no pay, by building their skills and strong mental health. We offer free, flexible coaching over the phone and online, and provide personalised feedback on CVs, covering letters and job applications. Last year we supported a record number of young women and our annual evaluation finds high levels of satisfaction and a range of positive outcomes.
We supported record numbers of young women last year
From April 2019 to March 2020 we supported a record 2,993 young women through coaching or CV feedback. That’s eight young women every day. Our coaches provided a total of 5,179 coaching sessions, while our CV feedback volunteers provided 2,190 pieces of feedback.
We continued to reach a diverse group of young women
We continued to support a wide range of young women through Work It Out:
- 57% were White British, and 29% were from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups.
- 1 in 8 (13%) defined themselves as disabled.
- 30% were unemployed, 54% were in some form of employment (including zero-hours contracts, part-time and low-paid employment), 12% were in education and 4% were self-employed.
- 34% were from the top three deciles of the most deprived households.
- The majority were from outside of London and the South East, with a strong geographical spread.
- 8% were age 18 –20, 33% aged 21-24 and 59% aged 25-30.
During the year we also introduced additional monitoring to better understand young women’s experiences. This found that:
- 58% of young women had previously experienced mental ill health
- 14% had experienced domestic abuse or violence against women
- 9% had experienced insecure housing or homelessness
- 6% had experienced substance or alcohol issues
- 3% had experience of the care system
- 2% had experience within the criminal justice system.
Young women are really satisfied with Work It Out
Despite the higher demand for Work It Out, we were able to ensure that satisfaction with the service remained high by recruiting additional coaches, getting more CV feedback volunteers on board and improving our processes.
- 97% of young women said they were able to speak to a coach at a time that suited them.
- 98% of young women were happy with the amount of time if took to receive feedback on their CV or job application.
- 87% of young women who spoke to a coach found coaching useful.
- 95% of young women had changed or planned to change their CV or job application due to the feedback received.
Young women reported a wide range of positive outcomes
- 90% reported at least one positive change as a result of Work It Out.
- 67% who used both coaching and CV feedback services reported an increase in confidence as a result, and 63% reported an increase in motivation.
- 50% who had coaching said it helped them improve their mental health or wellbeing and 76% said they felt less stressed or anxious.
- 57% who accessed both services started a new job, training, volunteering, an apprenticeship, internship or self-employment within six months of using Work It Out.
- 29% of young women who used the feedback service said it had already resulted in them getting job interviews.
As we face uncertain and challenging times, Work It Out is still very much open for business, as ever remotely supporting young women to cope and to make a plan for the future.
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