The proportion of young women doing low-paid, low-skill jobs has trebled over the last 20 years, according to new TUC-commissioned research. The study, carried out for the TUC by The Work Foundation, shows that between 1993 and 2011 the share of female 16-24 year-olds in employment doing low-paid work, such as office and hotel cleaning, has increased from seven per cent to 21 per cent.
Over the same period the proportion of young men working in low-paid jobs also rose from around one in seven (14 per cent) to one in four (25 per cent). The report – The Gender Jobs Split – also reveals how gender still plays a huge part in determining young people’s careers.
Just one in a hundred young women worked in skilled trades in 2011, compared to one in five young men. And four times more young women (21 per cent) worked in personal service occupations like hairdressing, leisure and the travel industry in 2011 than young men (5 per cent). The report also shows how despite being better qualified than their male peers, young women are still following employment routes that offer lower wage returns. Read more
