The gap in average pay gap between women and men is around 14.2%. Which means, if you’re a woman who works full time you will effectively be working for free from now until January.

So today is Equal Pay Day – the point in the year at which the average woman in full-time employment is said to stop earning, in effect, compared with male counterparts.

The date changes each year and 2015’s Equal Pay Day is five days later than 2014’s, indicating that the pay gap has narrowed slightly.

Sam Smethers, chief executive of gender equality charity the Fawcett Society, said at the current rate of progress it would take 50 years to close the gender pay gap.

Women should not have to wait that long.”

The ONS figures show the gender gap is widest at the age of 50-59, when it rises to 20.5%.