Women’s Equality: How Missouri Ranks

MISSOURI — Women won the right to vote nearly a century ago this month after a long, arduous fight , but continue to struggle in all 50 states for full equality, according to a study released yesterday, on the anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment.

For Missouri women, that’s especially true.

The Show-Me State ranked 33rd among U.S. states on gender equality issues, according to an analysis by the personal finance website WalletHub. The data examined ranged from the gap between female and male executives to the disparity in unemployment rates for women and men.

Missouri ranked even worse for workplace environment (43rd) and education and health (44th), but came in at number 15 for political empowerment, just behind New Hampshire and ahead of Michigan.

The WalletHub analysis built on previous data, including:

• For all of its progress on women’s equality issues, the United States doesn’t place in the top 10 of the World Economic Forum’s ranking of 144 countries based on gender equality. In fact, the United States slipped four points in 2017, to 49th from 45th the year earlier.

• Women make up 50 percent of the U.S. population, but are disproportionately underrepresented in leadership positions — representing only 25 percent of legislators and 29 percent of business executives, according to a study by the American Association of University Women.
• Apart from unequal representation in executive leadership, salary inequity has been central to the gender-gap debate. Few experts dispute there’s an earnings gap between men and women, but do disagree on the proper method of measuring that disparity. Still, nearly two-thirds of minimum-wage workers across the country are female, according to the National Women’s Law Center. But women are underrepresented in government, which makes it more difficult to change laws to close the gender gap.

The WalletHub analysis said New York, Minnesota, Maine, Nevada, Hawaii and Delaware are the best states for women’s equality. At the bottom of the ranking are Utah, Idaho, Texas, Arizona and Virginia.

Here are some specific findings:

• In every state, women earn less than men. Vermont has the lowest gap, with women earning 9.8 percent less, whereas Utah has the highest, 30.1 percent.

• In nearly every state, women represent the highest share of minimum-wage workers. Delaware has an equal ratio of females to males. Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi, New Hampshire and North Dakota have the highest minimum-wage workers gap at 50 percent.

• Alaska has the highest unemployment-rate gap favoring women, with 2.9 percent more unemployed men. Arizona has the highest gap favoring men, with 1.3 percent more unemployed women. The unemployment rate is equal for men and women in Mississippi, South Dakota and North Carolina.

• In every state legislature, male lawmakers outnumber their female counterparts. Arizona and Vermont have the lowest gap, with 33.33 percent more males. Wyoming has the highest, with 87.50 percent more males.

For more, go to WalletHub.

Photo by J. Ryne Danielson/Patch