WOMEN working part-time in the Clacton area are among the worst paid in the region, a new report has claimed.

More than half the women working part-time in the constituency earn less than the £7.85-an-hour Living Wage, a study by the TUC found.

The report was drawn up to mark Part-time Equal Pay Day.

It found almost 57 per cent of women part-time workers in the Clacton constituency did not receive the so-called Living Wage.

In neighbouring Colchester, the figure was just a third. No figures were available for the Harwich and North Essex constituency.

Only South-West Norfolk was as bad as Clacton in the East of England region.

The TUC said many women still remained trapped by in-work poverty, despite three years of stronger economic growth, and it is calling for more employers to pay the Living Wage.

Regional secretary Megan Dobney said: “Working parttime shouldn’t mean poverty pay, but for lots of women in the East of England that is the reality.

“The Living Wage was created to provide workers with a basic standard of living.

“However, many part-time women in our region earn well below £7.85 an hour and now face being hit by the Chancellor’s cuts to tax credits, which will wipe out any gains from his newminimum wage premium.”

She added: “If we don’t create better opportunities and increase wages for parttime staff, then women will continue to bear the brunt of in-work poverty.”

Tendring Council introduced the Living Wage for staff in April this year. It is designed so even the lowestpaid workers can enjoy a simple but decent standard of living.

About 40 of the council’s 500-strong workforce were earning less than £7.85 an hour – £15,145 a year – before the move, which cost the council just under £26,000.

They included cleaners, theatre staff and leisure attendants.

Council chief executive Ian Davidson, who volunteered to give up his own £2,706 pay hike to help fund for scheme, said at the time he hoped other businesses in the district would follow the authority’s lead.