Women in the UK experience lower job security and greater pay inequality than those in other developed countries, research released on International Women's Day has shown.

Britain has fallen into the 18th position (out of 27 countries) on a 'Women in Work' index, published by PriceWaterHouseCoopers (PwC), comparing a number of key indicators of female economic empowerment.

These include the likelihood of a woman being in work, female earnings, and the proportion of women in full-time employment.

The author of the report, economist Yong Jing Teow, said: "It is worrying that the UK's progress in encouraging more women into work and closing the gender pay gap has all but ground to a halt since the recession hit.

"While most other OECD countries have continued to move ahead, out progress appears to have stalled."

According to the data, while the UK has made progress on the key issues of gender equality in the workplace, it has been slower to do so than other countries, leaving it lagging behind in 2011, when the data was taken.

Britain had previously been ranked 13th and 14th, respectively.

The Nordic countries lead the Index, with Norway in pole position, followed by Sweden and Denmark.

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