The wage gap and the glass ceiling are symptoms of the undervaluation of women's contribution to the workforce. In the U.S., the average woman must work an extra two days a week in order to earn what a man earns in only five. In other words, when a male worker leaves the job on Friday afternoon, a female worker must work until the next Tuesday to make up for lost wages due to pay inequity. For women of color, the wage gap is even greater.

• Nationally, white woman earn 76 cents to a man's dollar.
• African-American women earn 69 cents to a man's dollar.
• Hispanic-Latina women earn 56 cents to a man's dollar.

Women are less likely than men to reach the highest salary brackets, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Between one-third and one-half of the wage gap between men and women cannot be explained by differences in experience, education, or other justifiable credentials, according to the National Academy of Sciences. If pay inequity were eliminated, poverty rates in the U.S. would drop by more than half.

• On average, a white man with a college diploma earned $65,000 in 2001, while a white female college graduate earned 40 percent less and similarly educated black and Hispanic men earned 30 percent less.
• Nearly 16 percent of men age 15 and older who worked full time in 2001 earned at least $75,000 a year, compared with 6 percent of women. About 20 percent of men earned between $50,000 to $75,000, compared to 12 percent of women.
• Due to pay inequity, women lose over $100 billion annually in wages. According to a recent study by the Institute of Women's Policy Research, a 25-year old woman who works full time year round for 40 years will earn $523,000 less than the average 25-year old man, if the current wage gap continues unchanged.

Employers may vary by industry, sales, and size, but very few are exempt from state and federal laws that require equal pay and equal employment opportunity.

• The federal Equal Pay Act protects men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment from sex-based wage discrimination.
• NH RSA 275:37 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in the payment of wages or benefits, where men and women perform work of similar skill, effort, and responsibility for the same employer under similar working conditions.

Information compiled by the National Council of Women's Organizations, the National Committee on Pay Equity, and the U.S. Census Bureau (2002 report).