Women have slipped further behind men in the pay stakes, new statistics by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed today.
The gender pay gap has increased over the past year and now stands at over 17%.
The figures from the ONS also showed that average earnings for full-time employees increased by 4.6% in the year to April to £479 a week, or £521 for men and £412 for women.
The number of jobs with pay less than the national minimum wage fell by 8,000 over the year to 288,000, just over 1% of the total number of jobs in the UK.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) said the gender pay gap was even wider in the private sector, at 21.7%, adding that research showed private firms were much less willing to check their pay systems to make sure they were paying women fairly.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Friday's shock increase in the gender pay gap makes the case for decisive action more pressing than ever.
"This is an injustice for both women and men. As redundancies mount, more women may find themselves as the sole or main income earner. It's more important than ever that they are not underpaid for what they do."
Gerwyn Davies, public policy adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) described the figures as “disappointing” but cautioned against blaming employers for the widening gap.
However he did concede that “even greater effort will need to be made by employers and government to narrow the gap.”
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2008