How Does Your State Stack Up on Pay Equity for Women?

The notion of bringing home 80 cents for every dollar pocketed by a man on a national basis is unsettling enough. But it's even more startling when those lost wages are added up.

Overall, it amounts to $10,000 in lost wages a year, says Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families. That chunk of cash could pay for 14 more months of child care, 74 more weeks of groceries and an additional 10 months of rent for the average woman.

For women of color, the losses go much deeper. Black women, who earn 63 cents for every dollar earned by a white man, see a loss of more than $21,000 a year, says Noreen Farrell, executive director of the organization Equal Rights Advocates. Native American women, earning 59 cents on the dollar, experience a shortfall of $24,000. Latinas, who bring home 54 cents on the dollar, endure a $26,000 annual shortfall, and Asian women, with pay averaging 87 cents on the dollar, have a loss of more than $7,000.

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