Gender pay gap ‘will not close until 2056’ – TUC report

The gender pay gap will not close for another 30 years at the current rate of progress, according to a new report.

The TUC said its analysis showed that the average woman effectively works for 47 days of the year for free and only starts earning from today compared with the average man.

The union organisation said the gender pay gap currently stands at 12.8%, the equivalent of £2,548 a year for the average woman worker.

That means that at current rates of progress, it will take until 2056 to close the gender pay gap.

The pay gap in education is 17% while in the finance and insurance sector it rises to 27.2%, said the TUC.

General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “Women have effectively been working for free for the first month and a half of the year compared with men.

“Imagine turning up to work every single day and not getting paid. That’s the reality of the gender pay gap. In 2026 that should be unthinkable.

“With the cost of living still biting hard, women simply can’t afford to keep losing out. They deserve their fair share.

“The Employment Rights Act is an important step forward for pay parity for women. It will ban exploitative zero hours contracts, which disproportionately hit women and their pay packets.

“It will make employers publish action plans for tackling their gender gaps, but these plans must be tough, ambitious and built to deliver real change, otherwise they won’t work.”

Published: 15/02/2026 by Radio NewsHub