50 Years On From Equal Pay Act Many Women Remain Stuck In Low-paid, Insecure Roles – Union Federation Warns

Coronavirus has confirmed that working women are still underpaid and undervalued in Britain today, the TUC has said today as the UK marks the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act.

TUC analysis shows that women are much more likely than men to be key workers and, when they are, are much more likely to be on low pay.

Of an estimated 9.8 million key workers, nearly two-thirds are women. And 2.6 million women key workers earn less than £10 an hour.

TUC General Frances O’Grady said: “50 years after brave women won the legal right to equal pay, coronavirus has confirmed that pay inequality is still rife in Britain today.

“Working women have led the fight against coronavirus, but millions of them are stuck in low paid and insecure jobs. That is not right.

“As we emerge from this crisis, we need a reckoning on how we value and reward women’s work. Without proper change it will take decades to close the gender pay gap.”

Separate TUC analysis of official data shows that at current rates of progress it will take around 50 years (until 2067) to achieve pay parity between men and women.