One in ten women workers in the UK do not earn enough to qualify for statutory sick pay, according to new analysis from the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

The analysis shows that 1.4 million women employees earn less than £118 a week – the qualifying threshold for statutory sick pay. As a result they are unable to claim the protection if they fall ill.

Working people can receive £94.25 per week of statutory sick pay if they’re too ill to work. It’s paid by the employer for up to 28 weeks. Workers need to have been off work sick for 4 or more days in a row to receive the payment.

Further findings from the TUC’s study showed that women account for 69% of the 2 million UK workers currently ineligible for statutory sick pay.

The TUC says that women are most at risk of not qualifying for statutory sick pay because they are more likely to be stuck in low-paid and insecure work and because women are more likely to work part time due to caring responsibilities.

Meanwhile, the study also showed that 23% of zero-hours workers do not earn enough to receive statutory sick pay protection.

The TUC is calling for the minimum earning threshold to be scrapped.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said, “No one should worry about falling into debt or struggling to pay their bills when they’re ill. It’s not right that women and insecure workers are most likely to miss out on sick pay, just because they are low earners. The government needs to get on and protect every worker if they fall sick.”

The government consultation on statutory sick pay is open until 7 October.