Women are losing faith that U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer can turn their fortunes around, a problem that threatens both the Labour government and its ambitions to boost the economy.
GfK consumer-sentiment data show that Britons lost confidence in both the country’s and their own finances in the run-up to the October 2024 budget. But while men’s assessments of their own finances have since bounced back, women are still gloomier than they were before fiscal fears kicked in.
That matters for both politics and growth. From food prices and utility bills to child care and diversity policies, women say the issues they care most about have worsened since Labour came into power last summer. Many also work part-time, in roles most exposed to the government’s payroll cost increases, so they’ve felt little benefit from the "green shoots” government ministers point to, such as rising real incomes, a U.S. trade deal, and the fastest private-sector growth in a year.
In recent months, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has focused on immigration to counter Reform’s rhetoric rallying British men. But polling suggests that the other half of the electorate is becoming a bigger risk. Already, the government has lost nearly half of the female voters who helped it win power just a year ago, according to More in Common, a political strategy and communications consultancy. That’s compared with just under 40% of men.
The stakes are high for Britain’s economy, too. Reeves wants to fix public services without further direct tax rises on workers in November’s budget. But as consumers drive around two-thirds of activity, their increasing push toward saving is dampening the growth outlook. That’s bad news for supermarket bosses, the Treasury and the Bank of England.
"I can understand why women still feel downbeat. They’re not feeling like this government is addressing the root causes of their problems,” said Sara Reis, head of research and policy at the Women’s Budget Group, a nonprofit that promotes a gender-equal economy.
Price rises often feel personal. Women still tend to handle the weekly shop, so they’re the first to feel the pinch from higher grocery, water and transport bills — the main drivers pushing U.K. inflation to its highest since early 2024.
Food inflation accelerated to 4.8% in August, climbing for a fifth month, due to increases seen across a range of vegetables, cheese and fish products. Families were also hit with a £600 increase in basic costs when prices for regulated services — from water bills to council tax, went up in April.
That helps explain why women are less likely to trust Labour with the cost-of-living crisis than men, according to More in Common. An overwhelming majority are unsure the crisis will ever end.
Reeves has made lowering inflation a key goal of her Nov. 26 budget. Women also stand to gain from the government’s upcoming overhaul of labor rights, including stronger protections against pregnancy discrimination and more benefits for low-paid workers. Most working parents are also now eligible to receive up to 30 hours a week of government-funded child care for children older than 9 months.
But until the Employment Rights Bill comes into force from next year, women are feeling the impact of Labour’s £26 billion increase in national insurance contributions. While many women benefited from April’s higher minimum wage, large employers such as retailers passed on some of the extra costs. Food manufacturers now warn that policies could push food inflation to 6% by December.
Boston Consulting Group research found that women’s views of their own finances are more tightly linked with how they feel about the economy. "If women think the economy isn’t going well and they feel the impact of inflation, then they worry about their finances more,” said Francesca Fraser, analysis manager at BCG’s U.K. Centre for Growth. "That is less present for men.”
Such perceptions help explain weak economic growth over the last year. Real wages grew, but households put more of that money into savings accounts, fearing job losses and tax rises. Now, those pay gains are slowly evaporating, with consumers spending more on essentials. Women, who earn less on average, are more exposed to cost-of-living shocks.
The U.K.’s gender pay gap has also narrowed only slightly, with women in top-paying sectors like finance still earning about a fifth less than men. On top of that, the U.S.-led pushback against diversity, equity and inclusion has created career anxiety; more than 60% of female workers in the U.K. see such rhetoric as a barrier to leadership progression, according to a recent Pipeline survey.
Over the last year, the government shifted its public focus from inflation to immigration as Nigel Farage’s Reform surged to the top of opinion polls. Starmer unleashed a barrage of measures, from tightening family visa rules to a returns deal with France, to prove Labour is serious about cutting immigration numbers. But many women felt left behind. While immigration is the top concern for men, paying the bills is the No. 1 priority for women, GfK data show.
"Doing stuff about immigration is not going to make women more positive,” said Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at GfK. "You are alienating another group of people entirely because you’re not thinking about more general, day-to-day things.”
That includes public services such as the NHS. Labour has prioritized the NHS but experts cast doubt that the decline in waiting lists is being felt. And despite more funded hours, childcare is still out of reach for many, according to the National Day Nurseries Association, due to a shortage of nursery places.
"We are at a point where, after years of austerity, there have been severe cuts to many public services,” Reis said. "When these services are not there or they’re failing, women tend to be the ones who make up for it as supporters of last resort. They are not feeling any improvements yet — and they’re not very confident that the changes that this government is implementing will make a difference.”
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