Alabama is 2018’s third worst state for working moms

0
76
working mom and baby

Working mothers in the Yellowhammer State deserve the hard-earned break and gifts headed to them this Mother’s Day. But unfortunately, according to a new study from personal finance site WalletHub2018’s Best & Worst States for Working Momsthe state ranks as the third worst state in the nation for working moms. That’s up from being the worst state in the nation in 2017.

By using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the study found several key methods to determine the scores of each state, including: child care, professional opportunities and work-life balance.

The state had very low scores for all three methods, ranking 42nd in child care, 50th in professional opportunities and 43rd in Work-life balance. Alabama also ranked in the bottom five for several categories, worst day care systems, highest gender pay gap, and lowest female executive to male executive ratio.

The state ranks 31st in average length of a woman’s workweek, 36.1 hours, 29th for women’s average commute time, 22.8 minutes, and 40th in terms of friendly laws for parental leave.

Mobile-Democrat State Rep. Adline Clarke introduced a bill in the 2018 legislative session to close the wage gap in Alabama, but it failed to pass.

When asked what else local governments could do to help support working mothers, Elizabeth F. Chapman, Associate Professor of Management at Mercer University said “ensure that there are adequate, quality, affordable child care facilities and excellent public schools. Support can also include efforts to close the wage gap between women and men, while providing development and educational opportunities for women to enter into high-paying positions.”

“Governments should have a fair representation of women and men in political positions,” Chapman continued, and with 2018 being called the “Year of the Woman” in Alabama politics, we might actually see some progress for women in the state.