Being a working mom is no easy feat. From managing increasing demands in the workplace to managing ever-growing expectations to do the best for your child, it’s no wonder more than 65 percent of working moms report feeling burnt out .
While plenty of things contribute to sky-high burnout among working moms, it turns out where you live may also play a role. Factors such as access to affordable childcare, flexible work arrangements and parental leave policies can greatly impact a working mother’s ability to thrive both at work and at home and greatly vary from state to state.
WalletHub, a personal finance website, recently looked at all 50 states and Washinton D.C., comparing them against 17 key metrics, to find which ones were best for working moms. The metrics included factors like childcare, gender pay gap, female unemployment rates, parental leave policies and more. Here’s what they found.
10 Best States for Working Moms
- Massachusetts
- Rhode Island
- District of Columbia
- Connecticut
- Minnesota
- New Jersey
- Washington
- Vermont
- Wisconsin
- Maine
So why did these states snag the top ten spots? A further look into the report shows that Massachusetts, the number one state, offers the best work-life balance and the second-best childcare of all states. Meanwhile, runner-up Rhode Island boasts the best professional opportunities with the smallest gender pay gap and the third best female-to-male executive ratio. Rhode Island also boasts one of the lowest unemployment rates for women, at 2.7 percent, and it scores very highly when it comes to parental leave policies.
It’s no secret that a lot more needs to be done to help ease the burden on working moms, but, for some states, this is a start. To view the full report of all 50 states ranked, visit WalletHub.com .
