Labour has vowed to close the pay gap between men and women within a decade - 50 years earlier than under Government’s plans.
The party would roll out a host of wage-related measures - including fining companies with gender pay gaps - to ensure women are on an equal footing with men in the workplace by 2030.
Dawn Butler, shadow women and equalities secretary, said it was “not good enough” that the gender pay gap would take until almost 2080 to be closed under the Tories.
Data compiled by the Office for National Statistics shows that the average gender pay gap for full-time work stands at 13.1% in the UK.
According to the Fawcett Society, it would take 60 years for that gulf to be bridged if the current improvement rate overseen by the Tory-led Government continues.
The TUC estimates it would take closer to 35 years - until 2054 - to close the gap.
Today [THUR] has been dubbed “equal pay day” - the day when women effectively stop getting paid for the rest of the year compared to their male counterparts due to the disparity in wage.
Shadow employment minister Laura Pidcock said: “For far too long the interests of working women have been at the bottom of the list of priorities for government. We will be uncompromising in tackling the structural barriers that is holding so many women back.
“Employers will no longer be able to treat the issue of the gender pay gap as an afterthought. Instead, they will be expected to take proactive steps to close it.”
