Why it’s worse to be a girl in the North than the South
Research ranks teen pregnancies, academic achievement and child poverty to rate areas
IT'S worse to be a girl growing up in the north of England than the south, a new report has revealed.
A study has compared child poverty, teen pregnancy rates, life expectancy and educational achievement across England and Wales - and five worst areas for girls to grow up were all in the north.
The industrial town of Middlesbrough was bottom of the table, joined by Blackpool, Manchester, Nottingham and Liverpool, Plan International UK's report revealed.
The best place for girls to grow up was Waverley in Surrey.
Waverley was joined by Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire, Chiltern in Buckinghamshire as well as Mole Valley and Epsom & Ewell both in Surrey.
Researchers also uncovered a sharp geographical divide with inner city areas fairing badly, while the south east came off best.
The study, the first of its kind, concluded that wherever they live girls face sexual harassment, cyber bullying and the pressure to have a perfect body.
Because of this authors stressed that girls across the UK are being "failed" and called for "urgent" Government action.
It also revealed stark differences in the expectations of girls across the country and a sharp geographical divide with inner city areas fairing badly, while the south east came off best.
Tamworth in Staffordshire had the highest rated of teen pregnancy with 40.5 girls per 1,000 under 18 falling pregnant in 2013.
This was compared to just 7.5 per 1,000 in St Albans.
Meanwhile girls who grow up in Chiltern can expect to live until they are 86.7-years-old, where as in Middlesbrough they have a life expectancy of just 79.8.
Lucy Russell, UK girls' rights campaigner for Plan and co-author of the report, said: "Our overall conclusion is the UK is failing girls and what needs to happen is urgent action to address this.
"We heard very strongly from girls that they were facing harassment every day, that meant they were facing harassment in schools, they were getting name-calling, unwanted sexual touching, groping.
"They also told us that they don't feel safe online and that they are scared when they walk to and from school.
"We also heard that girls feel very, very concerned about their body image and about the messages they are getting from social media and magazines, translating to a very serious extent into mental health issues.
"Our conclusion is that despite being one of the most developed countries on earth, there are too many girls in the UK who aren't enjoying their rights."
Suggestions to the reduce the problems faced by girls across the country are mandatory sex and relationship education, and greater cross-departmental Government working.
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