New report reveals UK’s toughest places to be a girl

North East Lincolnshire has been ranked as the toughest place in the UK to be a girl as part of a comprehensive report on girls’ lives by girls’ rights charity Plan International UK. 

The report, which includes a ranking of local authorities and a survey of nearly 3,000 girls and young women, highlights how UK girls feel uncertain about their futures and let down by the lack of progress on gender equality that society has promised them. 

While Plan International UK welcomes the new Government’s manifesto pledge to tackle violence against women and girls in the UK, it is calling for bold action to urgently remove the biggest barriers they face and restore girls’ trust. Tackling inequality and ending discrimination must be at the heart of the new Government’s action, along with sustainable long-term funding for local government. 

To discover where growing up as a girl has the most challenges, the State of Girls’ Rights in the UK 2024 report ranks how local authority areas perform against a variety of indicators. The evidence shows that no matter where girls live, they are being let down by a lack of progress on gender equality. However, the research found that North East Lincolnshire, which includes seaside towns Grimsby and Cleethorpes, ranks as the toughest local authority to be a girl after examining girls' participation in education, employment and training; STEM uptake at A-Level; gender pay gap, and healthy life expectancy. 

Blackpool, Barrow-in-Furness (recently merged into Westmorland and Furness council), Rochdale and Knowsley follow North East Lincolnshire as the top five toughest places. Top performing local authorities were East Dunbartonshire, Sutton, Isle of Anglesey, Lisburn and Castlereagh and South Oxfordshire.  

Bridie, aged 25, from North East Lincolnshire, says: “From my experience it can be tough to be a girl growing up in Grimsby and Cleethorpes partly because the town is built on male dominated industries like fishing and more recently engineering. Opportunities for girls and women are improving but progress is slow. 

“I’ve got a twin brother and even though we were raised the same, we were treated differently as a female and male. I was raised to believe that I can do anything, but in reality, I’ve had a few challenges. As a girl growing up, we got told that you’ve got to tell someone your location, you can’t wear that, or you’ve got to be quiet and reserved. I used to work in a bar, and I got told not to lock up on my own. You just feel as though you can’t win or be yourself. The transport system in my local area is quite poor. Often you walk or bike because it’s more reliable, but then you’re increasing your risk by being alone. I’m forever getting bombarded by these worries and issues, and it’s exhausting. 

“Grimsby has a great community but it’s quite run-down in places and you don’t necessarily feel safe there. If those areas were improved and there were nicer shops and it’s busy, attracting the right people then it would be a better environment for everyone. I also think more community engagement projects like the new Youth Zone and community centre specifically geared towards young people would help give young passionate people like me and my peers a place to have our voices heard.” 

A spokesperson for North East Lincolnshire Council said: 

“Like many young people across the country, those growing up in our area do face challenges but there are also both tremendous opportunities and exciting plans for the future in North East Lincolnshire. We are working hard with our community and our partners to support our young people as they grow, giving them greater opportunities to thrive and succeed.  

“The work to build the area’s first OnSide Youth Zone in Grimsby will provide a new resource to boost the opportunities for our young people to succeed in life. This centre, called Horizon, will open in 2025 and has been supported throughout by North East Lincolnshire Council along with private partners. 

“There are lots of young women who were born in our patch and are achieving great things, and the authority continues to work with partners to help young women – in fact all young people – in the future.” 

Alongside the Local Authority ranking, the report surveyed 2,963 UK girls and young women aged 12-21 – the highest number in the report’s eight-year history – to identify their most pressing concerns. Key themes included wanting more comprehensive relationships, sex & health education, feeling a lack of safety in public, having little trust in politicians and institutions, and feeling unprepared by education. Of the girls surveyed: 

• Only 56% feel they’ve been taught what they need to know about healthy relationships and sex, and just 17% agree that boys know or understand enough about the challenges and issues girls face 

• Just 5% feel completely safe in public spaces 

• 39% feel under pressure to look and/or act older than they are 

• One in five (20%) do not trust the police at all, and this increases to 24% of 17 to 21 year olds 

• Only half (54%) feel they have the same educational and employment opportunities as boys or men their age 

• Just 1 in 4 girls feel involved in decisions about the way the country is run 

• 6 in 10 girls and young women say they don’t trust politicians at all (60%).   

• Over half (52%) of girls and young women said they are anxious about their future   

Rose Caldwell, CEO at Plan International UK, says: 

“Our report finds that no matter where in the UK girls are, they are not experiencing the progress on gender equality that they've been promised and still face barriers to leading healthy lives, obtaining a well-rounded education, and feeling safe and protected. 

“Society has been increasingly telling girls they can be and do anything, but they are still held back by outdated stereotypes and unfair expectations. Growing up in a cost-of-living crisis and a climate emergency, girls feel uncertain and anxious about their own future and the future of the world. 

“We know gender equality is long overdue. Tired of empty words of empowerment, girls want to see real tangible change in their lives. There is room for all communities to better support girls’ rights but they need urgent support from the Government to deliver better outcomes for girls. 

“Our report should sound the alarm for all politicians and leaders. Girls want to have their voices heard. The new UK Government must do more to create meaningful change that tackles inequality and ends discrimination for girls.” 

Notes to editors: 

Find the full report here, as well as our interactive tool that can be used to find out more about what our report found about local authorities across the UK: https://plan-uk.org/state-girls-rights  

Methodology

The index 

• The Index is based on 12 indicators: health life expectancy; general health; waiting times for young people’s mental health services; teenage pregnancy; participation in education, employment or training; STEM uptake; attainment at KS4; child poverty; pay data; feelings of safety at night; sexual assault; voter turnout. 

• To develop the index, Plan International UK worked with consultancy More in Common who reviewed over 25 existing composite indicators and assessed the existing publicly available data landscape. We also consulted statisticians at various government departments and sent freedom of information (FOI) requests where necessary, to assess the availability of certain metrics that were deemed important for this report but not published publicly. 

• Plan International UK has developed an Index based on these 12 indicators. They were combined into a single Index score for the State of Girls’ Rights and lives. Indicators were selected for inclusion in the Index based on criteria of relevance, uniqueness, accuracy, availability, comparability and completeness, with some limitations in the data. 

The survey 

• As part of data collection for the State of Girls’ Rights in the UK 2024 report, we surveyed 2,963 girls and young women aged 12 to 21 across the UK, conducted in schools and via online panels, with the support of CHILDWISE 

• Survey data was collected between May and June 2023 

• The full State of Girls’ Rights in the UK 2024 report is due to be fully published on July 18th 2024 

About Plan International UK  

Plan International UK is a global children’s charity striving for an equal world. One where every child can reach their full potential and every girl can choose her own future.   Poverty, violence, and discrimination still hold back millions of children around the world. And it’s often girls that are most affected. That’s why ensuring girls get equal chances in life is at the heart of everything we do.     

We work across more than 80 countries to build a future where every child is safe and receives an education. A world where all girls are free from violence, in control of their own body, know their rights and have their voices heard.   And if disaster strikes, we’re there too. We work to protect children, keep them learning and help their communities recover.   

But we don’t do it alone. To create lasting change, we work together with children, local communities, partners, and our supporters who believe a better future is possible.    

We won’t stop until we are all equal. www.plan-uk.org