Millions of Britons are warned that they are working without pay for 47 days annually, and this will continue until 2056.
A new report has shown that female workers lose an average of £2,548 each year compared to their male colleagues.
Women in the UK are effectively working for free for 47 days each year because of the gender pay gap, the Trades Union Congress reported.
Its latest analysis shows female employees earn on average £2,548 less per year than men. The difference in pay currently stands at 12.8 per cent.
If progress continues at the same speed, equal pay will not be reached until 2056, around 30 years from now.
According to the TUC, the gap means the typical woman only starts earning what a man has made since the beginning of January after those unpaid days have passed.
The union’s review of official wage data suggests that, without faster change, women starting their careers today could spend their whole working lives earning less than their male colleagues.
The 30-year timeline to achieve pay parity underscores how slowly progress is being made on closing the earnings gap between the sexes.
Millions to work ’47 days of the year for free’ until 2056
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GETTYWage disparities vary dramatically across different industries, with some sectors showing particularly severe imbalances.
The finance and insurance industry records the widest gap at 27.2 per cent, meaning women in banking and related fields face the steepest earnings penalty.
Education workers also experience significant inequality, with female staff earning 17 per cent less than their male peers.
By contrast, the leisure services sector demonstrates that narrower gaps are possible, recording a disparity of just 1.5 per cent.
Education workers also experience significant inequality, with female staff earning 17 per cent less than their male peers
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PATUC General Secretary Paul Nowak condemned the ongoing disparity in forthright terms. “Women have effectively been working for free for the first month and a half of the year compared to men,” he said.
“Imagine turning up to work every single day and not getting paid. That’s the reality of the gender pay gap. In 2026 that should be unthinkable.”
He emphasised the financial burden facing women during difficult economic times. “With the cost of living still biting hard, women simply can’t afford to keep losing out. They deserve their fair share.”
Mr Nowak described the Employment Rights Act as “an important step forward for pay parity for women.” The legislation will prohibit exploitative zero-hours contracts, which he noted have a disproportionate impact on women’s earnings.
Companies employing more than 250 staff in the UK are required to report their pay data
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GETTYThe Act will also compel employers to publish strategies for addressing their gender pay gaps. However, Mr Nowak cautioned that these plans “must be tough, ambitious and built to deliver real change, otherwise they won’t work.”
Research published last year in the British Journal of Industrial Relations suggested the gender pay gap may have been underestimated for more than two decades.
The study found that the Office for National Statistics had not adequately accounted for receiving disproportionately more data from larger employers when compiling its annual survey of hours and earnings.
Companies employing more than 250 staff in the UK are required to report their pay data, though smaller firms face no such obligation.