The TUC analysis of the pay and jobs of women over the age of 50 shows that, despite a dramatic rise over the past two decades in the number of women working past 50, low pay and pensioner poverty remain major concerns for them as they approach retirement.
The report showed a woman in her 50s working full-time currently earns on average £11.99 per hour – 18% less an hour than a man of a similar age at £14.69.
Across the workforce as a whole women earn on average 10% less than men. Women in their 50s also earn less an hour than women in their 30s (£14.17) and 40s (£12.93).
The average hourly wage for a woman in her 50s who works part-time is just £8.53, a third less than the average full-time wage across the UK workforce (£12.76). The majority of women over 50 in part-time work earn less than £10,000 a year.
The TUC analysis shows that older women have seen the fastest jobs growth in the last two decades. In 1992, the majority of women over 50 were not active in the labour market. Today, just 37% of women over 50 are economically inactive, while three in five are in work.
But the TUC is concerned that a lack of good-quality, part-time work means that many working women are still struggling to save enough for their retirement, despite working for longer than ever.
TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "The rising number of women over 50 in work has been the great success story of the last two decades.
"But while more women are working for longer, low pay remains a big problem, particularly for the millions who have been badly let down by the pension system and who are approaching retirement with little or no savings.
"Women over 50 earn nearly a fifth less than men of the same age and the pay divide for the 1.6 million older women with part-time jobs is even starker."
She added: "As the workforce ages, it's essential that people are able to work part-time hours without having to give up decent pay.
"Most of us will have caring responsibilities at some point in our lives and it's not right that looking after loved ones still has such a damaging effect on women's pay and career prospects."
