The bottom rung
is no place to be
Thousands of disadvantaged young women have the potential to achieve so much, but instead face a lifetime of poorly-paid jobs with no prospects. For them there is only one rung on the career ladder. The bottom rung.
At YWCA we think this has to change.
Without opportunities to develop skills and get training, the life chances of a girl from a poor background are massively reduced, as are her aspirations and plans for the future.
Help girls in their teens and twenties work their way up
Young women from poor communities need new and improved support to develop the knowledge, confidence and skills to get jobs so they can work their way off the bottom rung of the career ladder.
Our campaign
Our campaign to help young women to work their way off the bottom rung of the career ladder and step up to a better life began in 2007 and ran for one year.
We secured political and public support by running events in parliament and lobbying MPs and government ministers. We ran a calendar events for the general public. Public campaigning is now over, but every day we continue to encourage girls and young women to challenge workplace stereotypes, aspire to jobs with better pay and try new jobs, and to speak out about the inequalities which hold them back.
National minumum wage
Spring 2009: The Low Pay Commission is calling for apprentices to receive a national minimum wage in its 2009 report. Read more