“If that person must go to work to put food on their table, that means they are risking their own health and the health of their co-workers,” said Vicki Shabo, director of work and family programs for the Washington-based National Partnership for Women and Families.

“Mothers and fathers are trying to put food on the table and give their children a better life,” says Vicki Shabo, director of work and family programs for National Partnership for Women & Families.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would have shielded workers from retaliation if they discuss their salaries with coworkers. Employers would have had to “prove that pay disparities exist for legitimate, job-related reasons,” according to the National Partnership for Women & Families. In addition, the bill would have closed disparities in the legal remedies available for violations of the Equal Pay Act, so workers could claim the same kinds of damages provided under other wage discrimination laws.

“Los salarios injustos provocan un daño real y duradero a las mujeres, a las familias y a nuestra economía. Con las mujeres que constituyen casi la mitad de la fuerza de trabajo y sirven como sostén de la familia en dos tercios de los hogares, es el momento para finalmente poner fin a políticas salariales del pasado,” dijo Debra L. Ness, presidenta de la National Partnership for Women & Families.

The National Partnership for Women and Families said in a statement after the vote, “It is inexcusable that partisanship and baseless attacks have blocked this common sense bill.”

A recent state-by-state analysis by the National Partnership for Women and Families found that women in the United States earn an average of 77 cents to every dollar men make. The study, which is based on data from the U.S. Census, found even larger gaps in pay for African-American and Latina women.

In the Golden State, a woman who works a full-time job earns, on average, $41,956 a year, compared with $50,139 for a man who works full time, according to an analysis from the nonprofit advocacy group the National Partnership for Women & Families.

“With women making up nearly half the workforce and serving as essential breadwinners in two-thirds of households, it’s time to finally put ‘Mad Men’-era wage policies in the past,” said Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families.

According to the National Partnership for Women & Families, victims of severe domestic violence miss nearly eight million days of paid work each year, with between 25 and 50 percent of survivors reporting losing employment “at least in part due to domestic violence.”

The national average is 77 cents for women nationally, but 92 cents in Los Angeles and 85 cents in California, according to census data compiled by the National Partnership for Women and Families.

“A National Partnership for Women & Families report says if that disparity was eliminated, a working Austin woman could pay for 73 more weeks of food, or buy nearly 2,400 additional gallons of gas.”