Women working part time earn on average 40 per cent less per hour than men working, a report from the Equal Opportunities Commission has found.

The study, "Part time is no crime", says that 78 per cent of Britain's part time workers are women – many of whom work in low-level jobs in administration and service industries.

One reason for working part-time is said to be the need to balance work and caring responsibilities.  Lack of flexibility in their chosen careers means many women have to take up alternative work which is often low paid and part time, adds the report.

Part-time work was also found to have a "scarring" effect on earnings - the longer a person works part time, the lower their wages are likely to be, even if they return to full time work.

And part time workers are also 40 per cent less likely to receive in-work training than full-time counterparts.

Flexible working

The report says the way to tackle the stigma and disadvantage faced by part time workers is by opening up flexible working at all levels and granting parents of older children and carers the right to flexible working.

Julie Mellor, chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission, said: "Britain is facing a crisis if it does not address the need for flexible hours at work.

"Women are hardest hit by the part time 'penalty' which channels them into low paid jobs with poor prospects often because they take on more of the caring role at home.

"Many people choose to work part time but they don't choose low pay.

"What we need is to enable parents of older children and carers to ask their employer to work flexibly, and encourage employers to offer better paid jobs on a more flexible basis.

"Only that way can we keep essential skills in the economy whilst allowing people to do the vital role of caring for others."

Pay deal increases

A separate report published by Incomes Data Services found that average pay deals have risen 3.2 per cent.

Settlements increased by 0.2 per cent on average in the three months to January, with slightly bigger increases in manufacturing firms.

The research showed that deals so far this year were mainly worth between three and four per cent.

Alastair Hatchett, head of pay services at IDS, said: "With no rapid decline in headline inflation in prospect over the next few months and a tight labour market, we expect to see pay rises continuing to run ahead of last year's levels in much of the private sector.

"The big question is how far the government will try to hold down public sector pay rises - not usually their favoured option as an election approaches."