Young UK women outshine Europe
Young UK women are putting their European counterparts to shame.
New analysis reveals the number of women under 25 in work in the UK rose by more than the rest of Europe put together.
In the UK the number of young women in jobs rose by more than 84,000 in the last year, 5 times that of the next best country. This has helped the UK to rise to fourth in the EU league tables for young female employment rates, according to official EU figures.
With a record number of vacancies in the economy, unemployment for young women in the UK fell faster than any G7 country in the last year.
Employment Minister Esther Mcvey said:
I know that our young people are some of the best in the world – and this is further proof.
Young women in the UK are grabbing the opportunities that are on offer and, with more vacancies in the economy than ever before, this government will continue to support those who want to gain the skills and experience needed to get into work.
With 12 million new jobs set to be created in the next decade, as part of our long-term economic plan, I want to see as many young women as possible making the most of these new opportunities to give themselves the security of a regular wage.
The Minister recently launched the new #NotJustForBoys campaign, which aims to encourage young women into non-traditional roles in industries such as engineering, science, and construction.
The campaign has received backing from some of the UK’s biggest companies, including Asda, Barclays Bank, and Nestle – and some leading women in industry including Martha Lane Fox, Abbie Hutty, who helped to build the Mars Rover, and TechCityUK chairwoman Joanne Shields.
Independent Office for National Statistics figures released last month revealed that there are more women choosing to work in the UK than ever before – with an average of 6,000 more women finding work every week over the past year, helping to boost the numbers to 14.47 millions.
UK youth employment, including males, also saw a bigger rise than the rest of Europe combined – in further proof that youth employment in the UK is outstripping other major economies.
The number of young people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance has fallen for 38 months in a row and, in a further sign that the country’s jobs market is getting stronger each month, the number of job vacancies has also hit a record high of nearly 720,000.
Government-backed schemes have helped to contribute to the big rise in youth employment, with 281,610 opportunities taken up by young people in work experience or employer-led placements to give them new skills and job tasters to help them get their foot on the career ladder.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) offers a range of support across the country to get people off benefits and into jobs through our network of over 700 Jobcentres. These include work experience, employer-led training, work placements, skills training, the Work Programme, and help for budding entrepreneurs through the New Enterprise Allowance.
DWP has also introduced the ‘Claimant Commitment’ in all British Jobcentres – it is a more rigorous commitment for benefit claimants based on the person’s individual circumstances and clearly sets out what their responsibilities are while job hunting. Latest figures show that more than a million jobseekers have now signed the commitment.
More information
Read the Eurostat Labour Force Survey data.
Read the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data.
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