Young women in Scotland are being severely impacted by the cost-of-living crisis, suggests new research from The Young Women’s Movement and Scottish Women’s Budget Group. The report, released today during Challenge Poverty Week, collates data from over 300 women aged 16–35 living in Scotland. 

The report paints a bleak picture: nearly two thirds (65.7%) of young women surveyed feel financially worse-off compared to this time last year, and around a third (32.7%) currently find their housing costs unaffordable. Over half (53.4%) said they had been relying on savings alongside income to manage rising costs over the past year. 

Other key findings from the report include: 

• Nearly three-quarters (74.2%) of young women are cutting back on food expenditure by limiting the types of food they buy, and nearly 1 in 4 (23.5%) have skipped meals due to the rising cost of living. Some young mothers told us they are skipping meals to ensure their children are fed. 

• Over a quarter (26.7%) of young mothers are unable to afford replacement clothes or shoes for their children, and two thirds (66.7%) are unable to afford replacement clothes and shoes for themselves 

• Over two thirds (70.6%) of young women told us that rising costs have impacted their mental health and wellbeing, with two fifths (40.5%) saying that they ‘worry all the time’. 

In addition to this, the report also explores the additional impact of the cost-of-living crisis on young women’s decisions around family-planning and relationships. Many of the respondents shared that the cost-of-living crisis was preventing them from having children, and others disclosed that they were living with abusive partners or staying in toxic workplaces because they can’t afford to leave. One respondent said:  ‘Our mortgage increased by £500 per month which has caused real financial struggle […] I couldn’t afford to take any time off work. We don’t have a choice, we literally cannot afford to start a family which is really impacting my mental health.’  

Jenni Snell, CEO of The Young Women’s Movement, said: ‘This report makes a harrowing read. Young women are being failed in Scotland, struggling to cover their most basic living costs and left with stress and worry about their futures. We implore the Scottish and UK Governments to seriously consider the recommendations made by this report: provide an adequate safety net and support services; promote a real living wage; incorporate the right to food into Scots law; enhance statutory maternity pay and childcare provision; and ensure that housing and energy prices are fixed at affordable rates.’  

Sara Cowan, Coordinator at the Scottish Women’s Budget Group, told us: ‘One of the most striking findings was the sense of hopelessness amongst young women, with many feeling they have no prospects of getting onto the property ladder or having children. If we are serious about growing the economy, we need to see increasing investment in social housing but also in our social infrastructure, particularly child and social care services, and rebuild the social contract with young people.’ 

Áine Beattie, part of the steering group who helped design this research project, said: ‘Although the results from this report are worrying, I am confident that the brave and bold recommendations included will be a powerful tool in combatting the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis on young women and girls in Scotland going forward.’ 

The full report is available to read on The Young Women’s Movement’s website.  

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Notes to editors 

Please direct all media requests to Abi Baross, Communications and Influencing Lead at The Young Women’s Movement, at abi@youngwomenscot.org or on 07733 025610.  

Please note, The Young Women’s Movement operates on a Monday–Thursday 4-day week. 

Key recommendations from the report: 

• Progress legislation to equalise the minimum wage regardless of age 

• Incorporate the right to food into Scots law 

• Extend free bus travel to under 25s and cap the cost of public transport 

• Put in place robust measures to protect private renters through the new Housing (Scotland) Bill 

Additional respondent quotes from the report: 

• “All of my bills have risen sharply, outstripping my small ‘cost of living’ wage increase. Although my salary is the highest it has ever been, my outgoings are the highest they have ever been as I am a single person living alone and paying all household bills on one salary.” 

• “I’ve realised that I need to retrain in a new career if I ever want to own a house and be more financially independent. I’m currently a youth worker, an industry predominantly worked in by women. Typical ‘women’s roles’ pay very little, despite being essential work.” 

• “I’m a single parent and stay at home parent. I can’t get a job because I can’t get my son into nursery. He’s 2, I have no help to watch him while I try [to] work. There has been many of times my son has been the only one getting food, as I just simply can’t afford to buy the “cheap stuff” to feed myself too.” 

• “Being a full-time nursing student, my bursary doesn’t touch my bills. I go hungry to be able to feed my dog as well. Also due to cuts on bus services, it means I have to pay for a train to go to university which I cannot afford.”   

• “The hostile environment makes any sort of precarity worse and makes me feel like I can’t access help should I need it for fear of how it might impact my visa.” 

• “I no longer socialise with friends. I am barely scraping by and so all of my free time is spent at home.”  

• “I have to live with an ex-partner I don’t feel entirely safe with, and who is definitely negatively impacting on my mental health in a major way, because I can’t afford to move out.” 

The Young Women’s Movement 

The Young Women’s Movement is Scotland’s national organisation for young women and girls’ leadership and rights. We are local in action and national in impact.  

Young women are at the heart of everything we do. They inform, shape and lead our organisation and the work we do. We work alongside young women to amplify their voices and take action.  Our vision is a fairer Scotland for all self-identifying young women and girls. 

For 100 years, we have been a collective force changing things for the better for young women in Scotland. Our work with young women and girls across Scotland includes supporting them to lead campaigns on issues that matter to them; amplifying their voices in decision-making spaces; and shaping national and local policy and practice in their interests. 

Find us online at youngwomenscot.org, or find us at @youngwomenscot on X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.