Just being male could net you an extra £2.05 an hour in your pay packet.

Men in Kirklees earn an average of 20% more than women according to the Office for National Statistics.

Latest figures show men living in Kirklees earn the equivalent of £12.11 an hour, on average, while women make just £10.06.

In Kirklees, 84% of working men have full-time jobs, while 45 per cent of women in the borough work part-time.

When you take into account the fact that, on average, part-time workers in the borough are paid £3.54 less an hour, this has a huge impact on the earning potential of women.

The gender gap in wages is slightly better in Kirklees than it is nationally. Across the UK, men earn an hourly wage of £13.46 while women earn £10.94 - a difference of 23%.

Some areas in the country are much worse for gender disparity - in Allerdale in Cumbria, for example, men earn a shocking 69% more than women.

Only five areas see the gender gap work the other way - South Buckinghamshire, Denbighshire and Conwy in Wales, Hackney in London and Rossendale in Lancashire all see women earn slightly more.

One factor in the gender divide when it comes to wages is the number of men and women in full-time compared to part-time employment.

Across the UK, women are far more likely to work part-time than men - in large part due to expectations surrounding childcare - and these positions are usually lower paid.

However, from next April, all organisations with 250 or more employees will be under a duty to analyse pay information and publish reports setting out differences in pay and bonuses for male and female employees.

The reports will be due on an annual basis covering the preceding 12 months, with the first due in April, 2018.

But accountancy firm Deloitte said the gender pay gap was not predicted to close until 2069 based on current salary progression.

It said nationally, based on these figures, the hourly pay gap between men and women of 9.4%, or about £1.30, was narrowing by just 2.5p a year.

Emma Codd, from Deloitte, said women could increase their earnings potential by working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) related roles.

She said: “A great deal of progress has been made in the past half century, but we should not wait another 53 years for full parity.”