The average woman working full time will lose out on £330,000 in the course of her working life because of the current gender pay gap, according to new claims.
The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) analysed figures from the Office for National Statistics, which show the pay gap still stands at 17.2%, the same as in 2005.
This equates to women missing out on 525 extra holidays, or 10,500 nights out – including dinner and drinks – with friends, the EOC said.
Jenny Watson, chair of the EOC, called for a change in the law to speed up the pace of change.
“The remaining pay gap suggests that our three decades-old laws, which rely heavily on women bringing costly individual legal cases to challenge inequality, have reached the limits of their usefulness,” he said.
“We need a new generation of laws placing a more active responsibility on employers to deliver equality for tomorrow’s generation, before they too miss out on much needed income.”
