Nearly half of Australia’s most disadvantaged young women aren’t involved in work or study after leaving school, despite overall rising educational achievements among girls, a government report has found.

The Council of Australian Governments (Coag) Reform Council report, which studied outcomes for women and girls in Australia in the past five years, found 46% of disadvantaged women between 18 and 24 years of age aren’t in work or in higher education.

This is in stark contrast to the wealthiest group of young Australian women, in which just 17% aren’t involved in work or study.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/19/poor-young-women-being-left-behind-in-life-as-equality-gap-widens