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First Posted: 5/4/2015
Trying to gauge the best and worst places to be a working mom, a new report looked at — among other things — child care availability and cost, gender pay gaps, number of female company executives and the average length of a woman’s workday.
When the numbers were crunched, Pennsylvania’s rating was, well, mediocre.
The report, dubbed “2015’s Best and Worst States for Working Moms,” was compiled by WalletHub.com, which bills itself as “the social network for your wallet.” It used data for 12 factors grouped into three categories: Child care, professional opportunities for women and work-life balance. States were ranked in each category and overall.
Pennsylvania fared best in the child care category, ranking 23rd in the nation. Four factors were considered: day care quality, child care costs, number of pediatricians per 100,000 residents, and the state’s status in WalletHub’s “Best School System” rankings.
The Keystone state landed in the middle of the pack, ranked 26th, when it comes to work-life balance, which was based on parental leave policies, length of the average woman’s workday, and the average commute time for women.
The state’s lowest ranking, 32nd, came under professional opportunities, based on the gender pay gap, ratio of female to male executives, median women’s salary, percentage of families in poverty, and the female unemployment rate.
All three categories combined to put Pennsylvania 29th on the list. The best state for working moms was Vermont, while the worst was Louisiana. And if you’re thinking of just moving across the border to a neighboring state, consider becoming a Buckeye: Ohio ranked 10th on the list.
In fact, only West Virginia ranked lower than Pennsylvania among neighboring states, hitting 44th. New York ranked 17th, New Jersey 15th, Delaware 18th and Maryland 12.
The rankings are posted at http://wallethub.com/edu/best-states-for-working-moms/3565/