THE average woman in Britain stops working for free from today, according to the TUC’s analysis of the gender pay gap.

Women in paid employment, on average, effectively work for free for nearly two months of the year compared with men, making today Women’s Pay Day.

The gender pay gap for all employees currently stands at 14.9 per cent, meaning women must wait 54 days for their wages to catch up with their male colleagues.

Older women must wait longer, as women aged between 50 and 59 have the highest pay gap of 20.8 per cent and work the equivalent of 76 days for free — until March 16.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said that at the current rate of progress, it will take more than 20 years to close the gap.

“That’s just not good enough. We can’t consign yet another generation of women to pay inequality,” he said.

“It’s clear that just publishing gender pay gaps isn’t working.

“Companies must be required to publish action plans to explain what steps they’ll take to close their pay gaps.

“And bosses who don’t comply with the law should be fined.”

The TUC’s analysis also revealed that women also face a financial hit for balancing work alongside caring responsibilities.

Mr Nowak said the pandemic had highlighted that more could be done to help women balance their caring responsibilities and work.

He said: “Flexible working is key to keeping mums in jobs and is our best way of closing the gender pay gap.

“We should change the law so that all jobs are advertised with all the possible flexible options clearly stated.

“And all workers must have the legal right to work flexibly from their first day in a job.”

Fawcett Society chief executive Jemima Olchawski said the unequal division of care holds women back in their careers and plays a big part in Britain’s persistent pay gap.

She told the Star: “A lack of flexible work and affordable childcare conspire to block career progression, or even lock women out of the workforce completely.

“We need to see this government and employers tackle systemic inequalities and make flexible work the default with a requirement for jobs to be advertised as flexible upfront.”

Ms Olchawski added that a proper investment in the childcare system was needed to support working women.