As unemployment figures soar and thousands of women in public sector jobs face the axe, economists and politicians warn of the crippling long-term effects that will be felt by families

A hidden army of young women is bearing the brunt of job losses in Britain's sickly economy, with the unemployment rate almost doubling among 18- to 24-year-olds in several areas since the start of the recession, research reveals.

While young men have long been first in the firing line during downturns, TUC analysis shows that unemployment rates among young women have risen much faster over the past two years.

In the south-west, the unemployment rate among 18- to 24-year-old women has almost trebled, from 5% to 14%, since early 2008, while it has almost doubled in the north-west, Yorkshire, West Midlands, the south-east and Scotland.

Brendan Barber, the TUC's general secretary, warned that with women over-represented in many of the public sector jobs vulnerable to government spending cuts in the coming months, the plight of young women could get far worse. "High levels of joblessness among young men has long been a concern for the TUC. But now, as a result of the recession, young female unemployment rates are catching up with – and in some cases overtaking – young male unemployment," he said.

"With over a third of women working in the public sector... we could be in for a tough few years."

Unemployment has risen to 2.5 million after falling for much of 2010, and with the latest official figures due out on Wednesday, chancellor George Osborne will be watching anxiously to see whether Britain is trapped in what John Philpott, chief economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, has dubbed a "job-loss recovery".

The extent of the problem is revealed in figures around the country. In the West Midlands, the unemployment rate among young women now matches that of men, with one in five out of work. In the north-west, 9% of young women were out of work at the start of 2008; the figure has now hit 17%. In Scotland, 19% of young men and 17% of young women are unemployed.

Experts, including ex-Bank of England economist David Blanchflower, have warned of the risk of a "lost generation", because a spell of unemployment in early life can cast a long shadow, depressing wages and raising the chance of further worklessness many years later. This week, the total number of jobless people under 25 could rise to over one million for the first time since the 1980s, having reached 951,000 in January.

The problem of female unemployment has also been highlighted by the GMB union, whose analyses have indicated that women council workers are nearly three times more likely to lose their jobs than male colleagues. The union's study of job losses from 193 councils found that around 84,000 women face unemployment, compared to just under 28,000 men.

Yvette Cooper, shadow minister for women and equality, said that the consequences of an increase in female unemployment will be a devastating blow for Britain's children and families. "Cutting so many jobs for women and removing help for women to work will end up costing us all more. It is unfair, bad for the economy and increases child poverty."

Job cuts announced by councils, and collated by the GMB, show that more than 113,000 council workers are under threat of being made redundant at 193 councils in England. The proportion of women working in each council was calculated using figures from last year's public sector employment survey. If the job losses are in proportion to the current make-up of the workforce then 84,000 women are at risk of losing their job, the survey calculates.

More than 17,000 of those women will lose their jobs in north-west England alone, according to the calculations. These are predicted to include 4,740 female job losses from Lancashire county council – where women make up 79% of the workforce – and more than 1,000 from Liverpool. Nearly 13,000 women are expected to become unemployed in the West Midlands, compared with 4,600 men.

The numbers of women said to be at risk of losing local authority jobs in the south are considerably less. Across the south-east, 6,759 women are expected to lose their jobs, while 7,382 are predicted to lose their jobs from councils in south-west England.

In nearly all these councils, a 90-day statutory consultation period is under way on how to deal with these job losses. Most councils have given notice that they plan to delete vacant posts and seek volunteers for early retirement and redundancy.

Labour claims that local councils will lose an average of 27% of their funding over the next four years compared with 11%, on average, for Whitehall departments.

The loss of child benefit in households where there is a higher-rate taxpayer will cost some women, the usual recipients of the benefit, at least £1,000 a year. The decision to speed up the increase in the state pension age for women – it will rise to 66 by 2020 – will cost some women in their 50s thousands of pounds in pension that they might otherwise have had.

Critics say the government's priorities are reflected in its treatment of the Government Equalities Office, which funds the Women's National Commission and the Equality and human Rights Commission. The women's committee describes itself as "the only official, national body working on women's equality" and says it is a unique means for women's views to be heard in government.

The equality office's budget, which goes mainly to the two commissions, is forecast to fall from £76m to £47m in 2014-15. That represents a cut of 38%, before taking inflation into account.