POLITICS AND VOTING

Our survey looked at young women’s voting patterns in the July 2024 General Election and their feelings about the new government, with fieldwork taking place just after the election, between 22July and 3 August.

We found that young women were less likely to vote than young men:

The least likely groups of young women to vote were:

Young women aged 18-24 were also less likely to vote than young women aged 25-30:

63% of 18-24 year old women voted
73% of 25-30 year old women voted

Why didn’t young women vote?

Who did young women vote for?

Young women expressed more trust in the new Labour government compared to polling we carried out in 2023, when Rishi Sunak had just become Prime Minister.

49% had some trust in the new Labour government to listen and respond to the needs of young women.
Almost half (48%) had some trust in the government to close the gender pay gap.
Almost half (46%) had some trust in the government to implement policies that make life easier for young women.

Black young women in our survey were the most likely to have trust in the new government to implement policies that make life easier for young women - 59% compared to 46% overall.

We asked young women to rank a list of possible policies that the new government could introduce in their first 100 days. The top 10, ranked, are as follows:

Policy	% who ranked in top 5
Increasing the National Minimum Wage so it takes into account the cost of living	65%
Increasing benefits so that they cover the rising cost of living	45%
Guaranteeing genuinely affordable childcare that enables young women to work the hours they need to	44%
Taking action to reduce the gender pay gap	40%
Removing the age bands in the National Minimum Wage, so workers aged 18-20 don't get paid less than those aged 21+	39%
Taking steps to protect racially minoritised and disabled people from pay inequality	39%
Making flexible working the default from day one	35%
Addressing workplace discrimination	37%
Creating a more powerful body which can fine and prosecute employers who discriminate against their employees, or don't uphold their basic rights	36%
Banning exploitative zero hours contracts	34%

We also asked young women how helpful they would find measures that Labour had promised in their manifesto:

Policy	% who would find it helpful
Giving all workers basic rights to parental leave, sick pay, and protection against unfair dismissal from day one in a job	80%
Ensuring the National Living Wage reflects the cost of living	79%
Strengthening the legal duty for employers to take all reasonable steps to stop sexual harassment before it starts	77%
Making flexible working the default from day one in a job for all workers, except where it isn't reasonably practical	76%
Ensuring everyone has the right to have a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work	74%
Ensuring all workers get reasonable notice of shift changes and compensation for shifts cancelled at short notice	73%
Requiring large companies to develop, publish and implement action plans to close their gender pay gaps	73%
Establishing a Fair Work Agency which has the power to prosecute and fine employers who break worker's rights	73%
Making it unlawful to dismiss a woman who is pregnant for six months after her return	68%
Requiring firms with more than 250 employees to report ethnicity and disability pay gaps	66%
Banning unpaid internships, except where they are part of education or a training course	65%
Banning exploitative zero hours contracts	64%
Removing the National Living Wage age bands, so workers aged 18-20 no longer earn less than those aged 21+	63%
Introducing a Race Equality Act to ensure a full right to equal pay for Black and racially minoritised people	63%
Introducing free breakfast clubs in all primary schools	63%

Many of these measures have already been announced as part of the Employment Rights Bill. This data shows that they will be welcomed by young women and, if introduced in full and properly resourced, will help the new government to improve the lives of thousands of young women and repay their increased trust.

It is vital that the government involve young women in the design and development of these policies, so that their specific needs can be taken into account.