About this Event
Chaired by Polly Neate (Chief Executive, Shelter) with an expert panel including Stephen Timms MP (Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee) and Helen Barnard (Director of Joseph Rowntree Foundation) and led by our panel of young women sharing their own experiences, this event will be a key part of the inclusive policymaking process that will guide our future campaigns work.
Before the coronavirus crisis, young women were already facing discrimination and inequality that stopped them from fulfilling their potential. Large numbers of young women were working in insecure jobs, with few employment protections, meaningful flexibility or sick pay.
Things are getting worse instead of better. Our ‘Picking Up The Pieces’ research shows that 1.5 million young women lost income due to Covid19 or the things that have been done to tackle it. This has led to an increase in number of young women claiming benefits, with more than two in three claiming for the first time. Many are experiencing poor mental health outcomes, making it even harder for them to get back into or remain in work.
This has pushed many into poverty with more young women struggling to make ends meet. Combined with a benefits system that too often punishes rather than supports it is already putting young women’s future at risk. Young women tell us this is a system that thinks in the short-term and fails to take the needs of young women into account. We must now build back a better system of support if we are to ensure we don’t lose the potential of a generation of young women.
