There is still a significant gender pay gap, presently it will take over 60 years to close the gap at the current rate of progress according to the Fawcett Society. This is equivalent to women working for free for the rest of the year from the beginning of November, campaigners say.

The society has called for the government and its employees to tackle pay discrimination, job “segregation” and help to get women into senior posts. Currently the report found that jobs women do are more likely to be low paid and they are less likely to receive a bonus or progress to the highest job in their organisation.

A separate report says one in five mothers have been overlooked for a pay rise or a bonus because they have had children.

The Chief executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Rebecca Hilsenrath, said the scale of the disadvantages that working women face is “shameful”. “Girls and women outperform men at every stage in education, but time after time this success is not translated into rewards at work. Women are a vital part of the workforce and any proposals to tackle the gender pay gap must be strong enough to deliver the change everyone wants to see.”

A Government spokesman said the UK now has the lowest gender pay gap on record but “we know there’s more to do”.

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