MORE than three-quarters of women working part-time earn less than the living wage in some parts of Britain, according to analysis published today by the TUC.

Earning less than the national living wage of £7.85 an hour — the amount experts say is needed to have a simple but decent standard of living, set annually by the Living Wage Foundation — is the norm for many women unable to work full-time in more than 130 of the parliamentary constituencies where figures were available.

Today, two-thirds of the way through the year, is Part-time Equal Pay Day, representing the measly 67p that female part-timers get for every pound earned by men who work full-time.

A large concentration of women are settling for lower-paid part-time work, says the TUC, even if they are qualified and experienced for positions that are only offered on a full-time basis.

The worst spot for part-timers is the Welsh constituency of Dwyfor Meirionnydd, where nearly eight in 10 (79 per cent) women working part-time earn less than the national living wage.

Birmingham Northfield has the next-highest proportion with more than three-quarters (76.8 per cent).

There are 17 constituencies in London, including affluent Chelsea and Fulham, where most women working part-time earn less than the London living wage of £9.15 an hour.

Holborn and St Pancras has the smallest proportion of this group in Britain, but more than a fifth (21.5 per cent) of women working part-time still earn less than the London living wage.

Tory Chancellor George Osborne’s cuts to child and working tax credits will only undermine further women’s efforts to make ends meet.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Working part-time shouldn’t mean poverty pay but for millions of women that is the reality.

“If we don’t create better opportunities and increase wages for part-time staff then women will continue to bear the brunt of in-work poverty.

“We need a recovery that works for everyone.”

The TUC is also calling for more employers to pay the national living wage and the London living wage and for more jobs across all sectors and pay grades to be advertised as part-time.

For every part-time job advertised at £20,000 pro-rata, there were 18 full-time vacancies at this level, recent analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Timewise Foundation found.