Moves to close the gender pay gap won't be successful until 2056 if progress remains at its current rate, according to the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
The disparity between average wages for men and women is 12.8%, or £2,548 per year, according to TUC analysis of official pay data. It is widest in the finance and insurance industry, at 27.2%. In the leisure service sector it was only 1.5%.
Pay disparity between genders meant that the average woman employee "effectively works for 47 days of the year for free," the TUC said.
The gender pay gap measures the difference in salaries paid to men and women in the same industries. Employers with more than 250 UK staff must report pay data.
Even in industries where woman make up a majority of the workforce, such as education and health and social care, the gender pay gaps are 17% and 12.8%, respectively.
