Young women working whilst studying face exploitation and harassment in part-time jobs, with many paid below minimum wage, according to new research from leading UK universities examining student employment.
Female students are 50 per cent more likely than male counterparts to take on paid work during their education to manage rising living expenses, but face significant workplace challenges including sexual harassment and exploitation.
Fresh research from the Universities of Leeds, Manchester and City St George’s London has revealed alarming experiences of young women juggling part-time employment with their studies. The ‘Earning While Learning’ study exposes how students navigate workplace difficulties whilst pursuing education.
Researchers discovered disturbing accounts of underpayment and mistreatment. One student worked as a waitress from age 13, receiving around £4 hourly with no breaks or meals during 12-hour shifts. Another found her manager failed to inform her of minimum wage increases, resulting in significant underpayment.
Sexual harassment emerged as a pervasive problem, with students reporting inappropriate touching from customers and feeling powerless to address such behaviour due to financial dependence.
‘Unsafe and powerless’ workplace conditions
The investigation analysed national data before conducting focus groups with 83 young women aged 14-23 from schools, colleges and universities nationwide.
Professor Kim Allen from Leeds University’s School of Sociology and Social Policy, the study’s lead researcher, explained that rising living costs force young people to support themselves and families through part-time employment.
“These positions offer various benefits for young people, but also present significant challenges. Our findings show students receive poor pay and frequently feel unsafe and powerless at work,” Professor Allen stated.
Students often work antisocial hours including evenings and weekends, accepting difficult-to-fill shifts. This combination of work and study can trigger anxiety and burnout.
Many participants lacked awareness of their employment rights or legal pay rates, feeling unable to challenge employers about workplace conditions.
Students share exploitation experiences
One participant, Laura, described the difficulty of addressing exploitation: “It’s really challenging because many jobs involve quite serious exploitation, and it’s difficult to seek change or speak up, as employers don’t particularly care.”
Norah recounted wage theft: “My boss failed to inform me about minimum wage increases… I was significantly underpaid… approximately £70 that I never received.”
Esme detailed her early work experience: “I began waitressing at 13… worked lengthy weekends… received no breaks or food. I earned below £4 hourly… sometimes working over 12 hours.”
Marina described harassment in hospitality: “Working in bars and clubs, the harassment is extremely severe, with people touching you inappropriately… They’re very persistent… You possess authority to have someone removed, but you cannot do this to everyone because they represent your income. Sometimes you must endure it.”
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Call for collaborative action
Researchers challenged perceptions of student work as informal or temporary arrangements. Professor Allen noted that contrary to beliefs about students being transitory workers, many remain with employers for over a year.
“Students are crucial to employers; in sectors like retail and hospitality, they comprise over 20 per cent of the workforce,” she explained.
The research team advocates for collaboration between employers, trade unions, and educational institutions to create fairer student employment conditions.
“Rather than prohibiting student work, we encourage educational institutions, employers and unions to collaborate in improving student work conditions and supporting young people in accessing meaningful, decent and fair employment,” Professor Allen concluded.
The study calls for systematic changes to protect working students from exploitation whilst acknowledging the financial necessity driving their employment decisions.
