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Across the country, mothers who work outside the home still have a pretty rough time of it, according to a recent report by WalletHub. Its Best and Worst States for Working Moms (2024) shows that while women make up nearly half of the U.S. workforce, and 74 percent of moms with children under 18 are also working outside the home, a woman's average hourly wage is still only 82 percent that of a man's.
In addition, only 10.4 percent of the chief executives at S&P 500 companies are women.
In West Virginia, mothers who also work outside the home face an even steeper uphill battle.
In fact, only a handful of states (South Carolina, Idaho, Nevada, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama) do worse for working moms. The Mountain State is ranked 45th overall, 42nd for childcare, 45th for professional opportunities and 33rd for work-life balance.
The other states in the region fare a little bit better. Pennsylvania is ranked 29th overall, while Ohio is 35th.
Pennsylvania is 26th for childcare, 10th for professional opportunities and 34th for work-life balance. Ohio, meanwhile, comes in at 37th for childcare, 24th for professional opportunities and 22nd for work-life balance.
By contrast, Massachusetts is ranked first in the study. According to WalletHub, the Washington, D.C.-based personal financial website, the reasons include a low unemployment rate for women of 2.8 percent, "some of the best parental-leave policies in the country," relatively short work weeks -- the average woman in Massachusetts works approximately 35.5 hours per week, a good atmosphere for working at home and good quality education.
"Working moms 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 provide equitable pay for women and the potential for career advancement, along with robust parental leave policies and high-quality child care, health care, and schools. This gives working moms both the financial ability and the peace of mind to not have to choose between a career and family."
Because politicians work themselves into a frenzy to prove how much they care about women and families (not to mention attracting new families to their states) it defies logic that more is not being done to shift that dynamic. There is a better way. All but a few states are finding it.
It's time for the others to step up.