UK women have worked nearly seven weeks unpaid in 2025 due to a 13.1 per cent gender pay gap, prompting the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to urge action through the Employment Rights Bill.
The TUC’s analysis shows that women in finance and insurance face the biggest gender pay gap (29.8 per cent), working unpaid for 109 days, while in health and social care, the gap is 11.2 per cent, with the average woman working for free for 41 days
The pay gap increases with age, reaching 18.9 per cent for women aged 50 to 59, who work unpaid for 69 days, largely due to unpaid caring responsibilities.
Meanwhile, regionally, the South East has the highest gap (17.8 per cent), with women in this region working 65 days for free.
The TUC backs the Employment Rights Bill, which would require large employers to address pay gaps and introduce measures like banning zero-hours contracts and expanding sick pay and flexible work rights.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Everyone should be paid fairly for the job that they do. But working women are still waiting for pay parity.The Employment Rights Bill can help to close the gender pay gap by banning exploitative practices like zero-hours contracts that hit women the hardest.
“And introducing fair pay agreements will boost pay and conditions in social care which has a female-dominated workforce. Government policy to make employers publish action plans for tackling their gender pay gaps can also make a real difference. Women contribute so much to our economy. They don’t deserve to be treated like second-class workers.”
Scottish Widows managing director Jackie Leiper says: “Despite vast improvements, women still earn less than men in the UK and this disparity has a detrimental impact on women’s financial futures.
“Our latest Women and Retirement Report found a projected 30 per cent gender gap in overall retirement outcomes – in part due to women starting to save later in life. While 19 per cent of men start paying into their pension by 22 years old, just 14 per cent of women do this.
“However, if we can encourage more women to start saving and get themselves invested earlier in their careers, and crucially, do all they can to avoid pausing contributions, better retirement outcomes for women will be on the horizon. There are some actionable steps women can take to combat these financial gender challenges and secure a more comfortable retirement. A sensible first step to consider is establishing how much they currently have saved in their retirement pot, to see just how big the savings gap is.
“This may require tracking down any ‘lost pots’ from previous jobs using the Pensions Tracing Service and consolidating them in one place. But this effort from individual women must also be supported at policy level. Pension changes from the Government, including addressing the systemic factors which contribute to the gender pension and investment gap is vital too.”
