Girls just wanna have fun... but can they afford it?

ly support the added costs of childcare and the inflated cost of living.

The high cost of the social culture surrounding university and many early careers can add further stress to these financial responsibilities.

One female student at the University of Bristol stated: ‘it’s hard to justify

Blaise Cloran

Second Year English

Moving away from home, starting university and securing an entry-level job with a low annual salary can place young people in a financially vulnerable position, at risk of feeling the full brunt of the cost-of-living crisis.

New research carried out by the Young Women’s Trust revealed that 52 per cent of young women are ‘filled with dread’ when they think about their household finances, with women already taking home up to a fifth less than men due to gendered pay gaps. Given the existing income inequalities, young women are especially vulnerable to the impact of rising fuel, rent and essential household costs. This inequity is partly due to gendered barriers in the workplace. As part of research conducted by the House of Commons Library, 78 per cent of reporting employers concluded that the median hourly pay was higher for men than women in their organisation. They also noted that more women obtained parttime roles with a lower wage due