We all know that being a working mother is tough. Working from home, part-time, or full-time with an hour-long commute are all tough jobs. But depending on where you live, being a working mom might be a little easier (or a lot harder) than other moms.
The United States clearly lags behind when it comes to progress, especially for mothers. And, of course, that spills over to working mothers, as well as the lack of federal maternity leave and child care funding. But each state has its own laws and regulations, and where a working mother is located can make a big difference in whether or not she feels supported.
WalletHub examined the data to compare key factors of success for working moms, including child care, career opportunities, and work-life balance in each state. Each of these metrics is broken down into a point scoring system. For example, when scoring each state’s child care status, WalletHub scored everything from the quality of the state’s school system to the number of childcare workers at each daycare center.
Here’s our overall ranking of the best and worst states for working moms. (1 is the highest, 51 is the lowest.)
But we all know that finding affordable child care can be difficult. We all know that it’s difficult for mothers (and women!) to find good work opportunities.
What interested me most was the work-life balance by state.
Some states may score low on work-life balance, even though they score high on child care and career opportunities. Scores are ranked from 1 to 51, with 1 being the highest in each category.
In Maryland, for example, WalletHub gave it a score of 15 for child care and 1 for career opportunities. wonderful! However, Maryland’s work-life balance score is 44. Why is a state that ranks #1 in the nation for professional opportunities and in the top 50% for child care yet one of the worst for work-life balance?
WalletHub used the following rubric for scoring work-life balance.
- Parental Leave Policy Score: Double weight (~15.00 points)
- Average weekly working hours for women (in hours): Total weight (~7.50 points)
- Average commute time for women (min): Total weight (~7.50 points)
Using that system, the top 10 work-life balance conditions for working mothers were as follows:
- Massachusetts
- washington
- rhode island
- Oregon
- California
- District of Columbia
- new jersey
- connecticut
- vermont state
- wisconsin
And here are the top 10 things about work-life balance for working moms.
- georgia
- mississippi
- tennessee
- texas
- florida
- nevada
- south carolina
- maryland
- Alabama
- virginia
As you know, some of these are mixtures, but it’s hard to miss the difference between red and blue.
The problem is that even with great child care systems and great jobs, work-life balance can feel impossible for working mothers. As WalletHub’s scoring system reveals, a bad commute (especially in rural or high-traffic states, Atlanta) can have a big impact on how moms feel about their jobs at the end of the day. Lack of federally mandated maternity leave or government assistance with child care costs and systems is not enough. Still, we have to go to work and come home with a good attitude and enough energy for our children.
And a poor work-life balance can take the joy out of both the work you love and the family you love.
Rachel Wu, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, commented on WalletHub’s findings, noting that “jobs with extremely demanding schedules, especially those that interfere with daycare or school drop-off and pick-up times,” can have a serious impact on work-life balance. It’s the tension and stress you get when you’re rushing across town to pick up your kids after a day’s work, but it doesn’t stop your day from stopping.
Dr. Grace Huang, a political science professor at St. Lawrence University, also pointed out that while many people think that “high-powered careers” like being a lawyer or manager affect work-life balance, it’s usually these types of careers that allow for a little more flexibility in daily work hours and expectations once you reach a senior level. “Jobs that don’t pay a living wage clearly make it harder to balance work and family, as families need to work longer hours or work multiple jobs to survive,” she noted.
It’s not just about being able to go home and stay home. It’s all the little things that add up to impact your work-life balance. I’m worried about my child’s childcare situation because I can’t afford to put him in a daycare center near my workplace and have to leave extra early in the morning. You worry about how you’ll have enough time to go to the grocery store during your lunch break because you won’t be able to get home in time to buy something and make dinner before sports practice starts. Gas prices are rising and I’m worried about how I’ll be able to extend my paycheck when I live in a rural area and have a 40-mile commute.
And everything is connected, including employment opportunities and available childcare facilities. This is why some states still have low work-life balance scores, even though they have great employment opportunities for working mothers.
Unless we make major changes nationally, I think we will continue to see these divisions between red states and blue states, HCOL regions and LCOL regions.
