The number of young people offered a zero hours contract has increased by a fifth this year, new research suggests.

A study by the Young Women's Trust indicated that more than a third of people in England and Wales had been offered one of the controversial contracts in 2018.

Young women were more likely to be asked to carry out zero hours work, said the charity.

A survey of 4,000 young people found that a third said they were worried about not having enough paid hours to make ends meet.

The Trust called for "exploitative" zero hours contracts to be banned.

Chief executive Dr Carole Easton said: "Low-paid, insecure work is shutting young women out of the workplace. Trying to balance precarious shifts with childcare arrangements is a nightmare.

"Budgeting, paying your bills and planning ahead can be impossible when you don't know how many hours you will be working or how much money you will have coming in each month.

"Our research shows that young women are far more likely than men to be in insecure work and are more worried about having enough hours to make ends meet.

"They often have no choice but to accept these contracts because they're desperate for work.

"Flexible working has to benefit the employee, not just the employer. Providing stable, secure jobs would not only help workers, but businesses and the economy too."

A Government spokesman said: "Youth unemployment has fallen by almost half since 2010 and flexible work helps people get back into employment by allowing them to choose jobs that suit their circumstances.

"People on zero-hour contracts make up only 2.4% of the labour market, and 75% of the 3.4 million new jobs created since 2010 have been permanent and full-time employment."