Women in the UK are earning up to £1m less than men over their working lives because of a culture of inequality, according to a Government appointed commission.

The Women and Work Commission, appointed by the Prime Minister to examine barriers to women’s pay in the workforce, said that the ‘gender gap’ between men and women’s pay is worse in the UK than it is in the rest of the European Union.

The report states that women work in the lowest paid jobs, the so-called “five Cs” – catering, cleaning, cashiering, clerical work and caring.

It called for more information to be provided to women to give them a better understanding of the pay and prospects open to them in the careers that they choose.

Commission chair Margaret Prosser said: “We all recognise that the gender pay gap is complex and multi-faceted. There is no one solution – no magic bullet.”