WOMEN only began earning their annual wages as of today, the TUC has revealed.

The gender pay gap between men and women stands at 17.9 per cent, meaning that the average female worker has effectively worked for free for the first two months of the year.

The gap has increased since last year when the Office for National Statistics revealed the average woman earned 17.1 per cent less than men.

In some parts of the country the gender pay gap is wider, meaning women work for free for longer. The gender pay gap in the east of England stands at 20.3 per cent and 19.3 per cent in south-east England.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady told the TUC’s Women’s Conference that employers should have a legal duty to take action on equal pay while TUC president Mark Serwotka warned that the gap was getting worse.

Ms O’Grady said: “Making employers publish information on their gender pay gaps is a start but it’s nowhere near enough. Employers must be legally required to explain how they’ll tackle pay inequality at their workplaces and advertise jobs on a more flexible basis.

“Women in the UK will only start to get paid properly when part-time jobs are better paid and jobs are flexible from day one and we need higher wages in key sectors like social care.”

The conference also called for action by the government to take more effective measures to close the gap.

Communications union CWU’s Trish Lavelle told the conference that on current trends the “shameful” state of affairs would not end for another 50 years, meaning that the lifetime difference between the earnings of young men and women would be enough to buy a house.

She said: “The new reporting duties on some employers is welcome. But haven’t we measured this to death? And shouldn’t we now be focusing on action for change?

“We need to set out some clear aims, political and industrial commitments, and a new ambitious target for closing the pay gap within this decade.”