Women make up two thirds of workers earning less than living wage

300,000 women in Scotland earn less than the Living Wage according to new figures.

There are 466,000 Scots whose salary is less than the Living Wage - which is currently set at £8.45 an hour for people outside of London - two thirds of these people are female.

The figures, from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Spice) showed that 297,000 female workers receive a lower salary.

That means that 24.3% of all females who are in employment receive less than the Living Wage, while the equivalent for men was 15.4%

Labour proposes a £10 an hour minimum wage by 2020.

Shadow Scottish secretary Lesley Laird said: 'The gender pay gap has been in the news recently but while the debate in recent weeks has been focused on those at the top, pay inequality continues to impact millions of people across the country.'

'These figures show almost 300,000 women in Scotland earn less than the Living Wage, with significantly fewer men in the same situation.

'Not only are women paid less than men, and with more barriers to progression, but hundreds of thousands in Scotland are paid less than the Living Wage.

'A Labour government would be focused on reducing the gender pay cap, not on protecting the privileged few. We would increase the minimum wage to a real Living Wage of £10 per hour and, as part of our plan for rights at work, we would ensure companies comply with gender equality legislation.'