United States

The Best And Worst States For Working Moms

Law, Suzanne Grandt

Working moms have long faced challenges when it comes to balancing work and home life, as well as the high cost of childcare and the lack of equal pay. And some states have it better (or worse) than others. In a study conducted by WalletHub, the organization found that some states provide the best opportunities for working mothers- while other states simply fall flat.

WalletHub looked at multiple factors including the cost and quality of childcare, the gender pay gap, the median salary for a woman, the ratio of women to men working in executive roles, and the quality of parental leave in each state plus the District of Columbia.

Massachusetts has named the best state for working moms in 2021 (and Louisiana was named the worst). One reason that Massachusetts ranks in the number one spot is that they have a paid family leave program. Plus, in Massachusetts, women earn an average of 86 cents to a man’s dollar, which is a smaller gap than the national average of women earning 82 cents to a man’s dollar.

On the other hand, in Louisiana, women only earn about 74 cents to a man’s dollar (sadly, this state is not the state with the worst pay gap- that award goes to Mississippi). Plus, the state does not give paid family leave and they have a low amount of high-quality daycare centers.

Top 10 States For Working Moms:

  1. Massachusetts
  2. District of Columbia
  3. Connecticut
  4. Vermont
  5. Minnesota
  6. Rhode Island
  7. Wisconsin
  8. New Jersey
  9. New York
  10. Washington

Kudos to those ten states for looking out for working moms! Here is how the rest of the country adds up:

  1. New Hampshire
  2. Virginia
  3. South Dakota
  4. Maryland
  5. Illinois
  6. Oregon
  7. Delaware
  8. Colorado
  9. North Dakota
  10. Maine
  11. Tennessee
  12. Iowa
  13. Montana
  14. Nebraska
  15. Hawaii
  16. Florida
  17. Indiana
  18. Utah
  19. Kentucky
  20. North Carolina
  21. Ohio
  22. Missouri
  23. Kansas
  24. Wyoming
  25. Pennsylvania
  26. Michigan
  27. Texas
  28. California
  29. Georgia
  30. Arizona
  31. Alaska

And here are the worst 10 states in the country in regards to taking care of their working moms:

  1. West Virginia
  2. Arkansas
  3. New Mexico
  4. Oklahoma
  5. Nevada
  6. South Carolina
  7. Mississippi
  8. Idaho
  9. Alabama
  10. Louisiana

This article was originally published on SuzanneGrandt.com