Massachusetts is the best state for working mothers, according to a new study.
Personal finance website WalletHub analyzed each state based on three key metrics: child care, career opportunities and “work-life balance.”
It considered factors including the cost of child care in the state, the quality of the school system, the gender pay gap, women’s median wages, parental leave policies and the average length of a woman’s work week.
Women make up nearly half of the American workforce and 74 percent of mothers with children under 18 were working in 2023, according to WalletHub.
But many working mothers still face an uphill battle in the workplace. On average in the United States, a woman’s hourly wage is only 82 percent of what men earn.
But some states are doing more to address these issues, the study found, and parental leave policies and the quality of infrastructure vary significantly across the country.
Personal finance website WalletHub analyzed each state based on three key metrics: child care, career opportunities and “work-life balance.”
Working mothers can also benefit from a relatively short work week, with the average woman in Massachusetts working about 35.5 hours per week, she found.
The quality of education in the state is also high, as Massachusetts has some of the best public schools in the country.
Rhode Island ranked second on the list of best states for working mothers.
“The best states offer equitable wages for women and the potential for career advancement, along with strong parental leave and child care policies, health care, and high-quality schools,” said Cassandra Happe, an analyst at WalletHub.
It has the lowest gender pay gap in the country, with women earning 99.6 percent of what men earn, WalletHub said.
It also has the highest number of pediatricians per capita and child care workers per capita, making it easier for moms to find a place to send their kids during the day while they’re at work.
However, it has some of the most expensive child care costs in the country, according to the study.
Third on the list is the District of Columbia, followed by Connecticut and Minnesota.
“Working mothers have to carefully balance career opportunities with factors that provide a good environment for their children when deciding where to live,” said WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe.
‘The best states offer equitable wages for women and the potential for career advancement, along with strong parental leave and child care policies, health care, and high-quality schools.
“This gives working mothers both the financial capacity and the peace of mind of not having to choose between a career and a family.”
On the other end of the spectrum, WalletHub ranked Alabama as the worst state for working mothers.
The study considered factors including the cost of child care in the state, the quality of the school system and the gender wage gap.
Massachusetts Ranked Best State for Working Moms, According to WalletHub
The state ranks in the bottom 10 for child care, career opportunities and work-life balance.
According to the study, it is among the five worst states in terms of childcare systems and in terms of the ratio of female executives to male executives.
The second worst state for working mothers is Louisiana, followed by Mississippi, Nevada and Idaho.
Louisiana is also among the five worst states for child care systems and also for the gender pay gap.
The study also found that blue states are friendlier to working mothers than red states.
This comes after a separate study earlier this year revealed that the high cost of childcare makes it nearly impossible for many parents to afford.
According to a health department definition, child care is not “affordable” in any of the 50 states, but some areas face a higher cost burden than others.
New Mexico has the least affordable child care in the country, GOBankingRates data shows.
GOBankingRates named New Mexico, California, New Jersey, North Carolina, Washington, Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts, Nevada and Michigan as the ten least affordable states for child care in the country.
The report found that families there must spend more than 15 percent of their income on childcare at daycare. This is almost double the amount families spend in the most affordable states.
In South Dakota, the cheapest state, families typically spend 9 percent of their wages on child care.
But the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines “affordable” as 7 percent of a person’s income. By that standard, no state offers its residents affordable childcare services.
One of the reasons for skyrocketing child care costs across the country is increased demand, coupled with a shortage of workers.
In September 2023, the government also suspended pandemic-era aid for daycares, putting increasing pressure on the sector.