Women in Peterborough effectively working for free for rest of the year due to gender pay gap, according to new figures

Women living in Peterborough will effectively work more than one month for free this year because of the impact of the gender pay gap, according to new figures.

It is estimated that full-time female workers in Peterborough earned an average of £16.39 per hour – excluding overtime – as of April.

Yet their male peers earned 10.3 per cent more at £18.28 an hour.

That means by the end of the year, women will have effectively worked without pay since November 24.

Now, the women's rights charity, the Fawcett Society, is urging the Government introduce measures to help women into higher-paying work, especially during the cost-of-living crisis.

The figures have been released by the Office for National Statistics and show that across the UK, the full-time female workforce is paid an average hourly rate of £18.09 – 11.3 per cent less than the £20.04 hourly wage earned by men.

Yesterday, November 20, was designated as Equal Pay Day by the Fawcett Society.

But through to the end of the year, women across the country effectively stop earning relative to men.

Jemima Olchawski, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said: "Progress on tackling the gender pay gap is too slow and evidence continues to stack up that women want to see more being done.

"In the context of labour market shortages and the cost-of-living crisis, we really can’t afford not to act.

"We urgently need action from both the Government and employers."

The gender pay gap is the estimated difference between the average hourly wage for men and women across all jobs and is different from the concept of equal pay, which means men and women doing the same job must be paid the same.

For part-time workers nationally, the gender pay gap was 0.2 per cent last year, while in Peterborough, women earned 9.4 per cent more than men in part-time roles.

The Society also called on the Government to make flexible working available to all to help more women and mothers into work.

The Government's Equality Hub spokesperson said the Government has introduced legislation for the right to flexible working, shared parental leave and pay, and doubling free childcare.