Massachusetts Ranked as 5th Best State for Working Moms

By CHARLENE ARSENAULT (Patch Staff)

Women make up around half the American labor force. With women’s unequal pay as a hotly debated issue, and Mother’s Day just around the corner, WalletHub, a personal finance social network, conducted an in-depth analysis of the best and worst states for working moms.

Massachusetts ranked fifth best, overall, in a list that used 12 key metrics such as median women’s salary, day care and ration of female to male executives to arrive at its findings. The Bay State came in at 22 for work-life balance, and 10 for “professional opportunities.”

Massachusetts trailed the top-ranked Vermont, which was followed by Minnesota second, Wisconsin third and New Hampshire fourth.

“In order to help ease the burden on an underappreciated segment of the population, WalletHub analyzed the attractiveness of each of the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia to a working mother,” said the announcement.

Here’s how Massachusetts fared in specifics, with 1 being the best, and 25 being average, for women living as working moms”

17th – Day Care Quality
2nd – Access to Pediatric Services
26th – Gender Pay Gap (Women’s Earnings as a Percentage of Men’s)
25th – Ratio of Female to Male Executives
9th – Median Women’s Salary (Adjusted for Cost of Living)
21st – Female Unemployment Rate
16th – Parental Leave Policy Score
6th – Length of the Average Woman’s Workday
12th – Percentage of Single-Mom Families in Poverty

Image via Shutterstock

Read the full WalletHub story and report here.