"Our economy is stacked against working women," said TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady on the first day of its women's conference. "At this rate, it will take another 50 years to close the gender pay gap. No more excuses: government must get on and sort the gender pay gap now."

The TUC said March 4 was the first day that the average working woman in the UK was "paid". "The average woman effectively works for free for two months of the year compared to the average man," it added. The TUC said the gap - or percentage difference between the average male salary and the average female salary - stands at 17.3 percent. "This pay gap means that women have to wait 63 days before they start to get paid on Women's Pay Day today," the organisation noted.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2020