The average woman works “for free” for the first two months of the year because of the gender pay gap, a new study suggests.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) published analysis that showed a 17.9% difference in earnings between women and men.

It has prompted the union to label Wednesday “Women’s Pay Day”.

It claims it will take 60 years for the gap to close at the current rate of progress.

The gender pay gap is the difference between the median average hourly wage of men and women working in the same organisation.

It is not the same as equal pay, where employers are legally required to pay men and women doing the same job the same salary.

The union claim in some industries or regions of the country where the pay gap is wider, women effectively work for free until as long as April or May.

Analysis published on the first day of the TUC’s annual women’s conference in London highlighted the gap in the East of England is 20.3%.

The South East’s gap is reportedly 19.3%.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The UK still has one of the worst gender pay gaps in Europe. Women effectively work for free for two months of the year and at current rates of progress it’ll take another 60 years for this gap to close.”

The government argues that companies are treating the gender pay gap as a “priority”.

A government equalities office spokesman said: “More than two thirds of businesses now view closing their gender pay gap as a priority thanks to the transparency created by reporting the figures.

“But we need a much wider cultural change to close it completely and are working with employers to achieve this.

“We have already introduced measures like shared parental leave and are developing a fresh strategy setting out how we plan to bring economic empowerment to all women throughout the UK.”

Around five in six employers are yet to publish their latest gender pay gap figures.

The deadline for public sector companies to declare their pay is 30 March and 4 April for private and voluntary businesses.

Penalties for missing the deadline could see employers hit with a court order and an unlimited fine.

It comes as the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) said it found that comparable jobs in civil service departments which employ a majority of men pay more than departments which employ a majority of women.

A civil service executive officer in a majority male department is paid 13% more than an executive officer in a majority female department, the union claimed.

Similarly, an admin officer in a majority male department is paid 12.6% more than an executive officer in a majority female department, according to the union.

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