Although women make up about half of the workforce in the United States, they still earn less than their male counterparts. And there are fewer among the ranks of executives. A newly released study suggests New York State is toward the bottom of all states when it comes to conditions for working mothers.
The website WalletHub ranks New York as the 13th worst state in the nation for working mothers. The study measured child care, professional opportunities and work-life balance. The top-ranked state in the study was next-door neighbor Vermont, while Nevada was ranked the least friendly state. The District of Columbia was also surveyed and ranked 37th out of 51.
According to the survey, politically "blue" states, those that traditionally lean more Democratic, tended to rank higher in the survey than more Republican-leaning "red" states. New York was among the exceptions.
"I think the one reason where New York has some catching up to do is the parental leave policy," said Jill Gonzalez, an analyst for WalletHub. "It's decent but it could definitely be better. It's not in the top ten there."
Gonzalez also listed other conditions for working moms in New York State including a six percent unemployment rate among women, a 2-to-1 ratio of men and women executives and an average salary for working mothers of about $31,000 annually. The salary ranked fifth worst in the nation, according to the WalletHub study.
New York did very well, though, in the category of day care quality. It was best among the states and District of Columbia. But it comes with a catch. New York also ranked among the bottom five states in the category of child care costs. It gobbles up, according to Gonzalez, an estimated 24 percent of a median working mother's salary.
"It's kind of this get-what-you-pay-for mentality," Gonzalez said.
Courtesy of WBFO