This Map Shows The Best (And Worst) States For Working Moms in 2020
"Even during non-pandemic times, working moms still face an uphill battle."
Being a or working mom is not an easy gig. Beyond the normal material struggles — low pay, drain on time, lack of a social safety net to raise children, and the high costs of said kids — the pandemic stripped all of what many working moms had arranged to make their lives navigable and stripped it away.
Working moms can’t win, and the pandemic has just made that divide even larger and more impossible. While it’s been tough for all moms, a new study shows that some states have been better than others for working moms juggling it all during the pandemic. Here’s what we know.
Here’s How the Data Was Compiled
Finance site WalletHub wanted to find out which states are best suited for working moms amid the pandemic burdens, including child care professional opportunities and work-life balance. Using 17 metrics in total under the three categories, each state and District was graded on a 100-point scale. The higher the number a state received, the more favorable it was for working moms.
How Do The States Rank?
The Worst States
After compiling the data and weighing, WalletHub determines Louisiana took the worst state for working moms with a total score of 26.69 out of 100. This was followed by Alabama (29.68), Idaho (30.06), Mississippi (31.50), and South Carolina (31.80) as rounding out the top overall worst states for working moms.
The Best States
On the other side of the scale, rounding out the top states for working moms overall, Massachusetts took home the top prize with a score of 65.12. The rest of the top five including the District of Columbia (60.63), Connecticut (60.28), Vermont (59.72) and Minnesota (58.55).
A Deeper Dive
Looking deeper into the data, Minnesota ranked top for child care options. Maryland ranked first for professional options, and Massachusetts scoring the best rating for work-life balance for moms. The state that ranked the worst for child care options was Idaho, Louisiana for professional opportunities, and Georgia for work-life balance.
The finance site popped all the data in an easy-to-read map. The darker the color, the better the state is work for working moms across the country. Looking at the map, it appears the states on the north end of the United States are faring better for working moms.
Source: WalletHub
WalletHub reports that working mothers were impacted by the pandemic in disproportionate amounts. They were hit with job losses more than dads, and the unemployment rate hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels yet. However, the inequalities have been around long before the pandemic, and states should be looking at how to level it out after the pandemic.
It’s Hard to be A Working Mom — Full Stop
“Even during non-pandemic times, working moms still face an uphill battle in the workplace, as their average hourly wage is only 85% of what men make, and only 6% of S&P 500 companies’ chief executives are women,” the site reveals.
It still has yet to be seen how the individual states are going to address these fundamental problems. Hopefully, a balance will be met sooner than later.
