Study: Latina Women Earn Less to Men

Hispanic women appear to be getting the short end of the stick in pay when it comes to their male counterparts, a new analysis finds.

New findings from the women's advocacy group the National Partnership for Women and Families find that Latina women are paid only 60 cents for every dollar that Latino men earn, and that number drops when comparing their earnings to white, non-Hispanic men.

The findings, based on an analysis of U.S. Census data, show that Latina women earn only 55 cents to the dollar paid to Caucasian males. On average, women across the U.S. earn only 70 cents for every dollar that American men make.

"Even in states with large populations of employed Latinas, rampant wage disparities

persist - with potentially devastating consequences for Latinas and their families," the study from the partnership claims.

The analysis took a look at 20 of the 50 states with the highest number of employed Latinas working full time. Of the 20 states listed, Latinas were paid between only 51 to 68 cents for every dollar their male counterparts earned in those states.

New Jersey and Washington ranked the lowest on the list, Hispanic women earning only 51 cents on the dollar there.

The trend continued in states with the largest populations of full-time working Latinas, Texas and California. In Texas, Latinas are paid 59 cents for every dollar paid to Texan men. California-based Latinas are paid 60 cents for every dollar paid to men in the state.

The gap, while seeming small from a glance, actually has a significant impact for the more than 2 million U.S. families depending on the take-home pay of these women.

According to the partnership, the wage gap for Latina women amounts to lost wages that could have helped them pay for three years worth of food, two years of rent, one year of mortgage and utilities payments, health insurance for their families and more than 5,000 gallons of gas, among other necessities.

Those numbers signaled that changes need to be made by Washington to remedy the situation, says Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families.

"It's unthinkable - unbelievable, really - that at a time when many people think women have achieved equality in the workplace and when women's income is so critical, that a punishing gender- and race-based wage gap persists," she said in a statement.