Posted by: Adam McCann

Women’s rights in the U.S. have made leaps and bounds since the passage of the 19th Amendment. Yet many women still struggle to break the glass ceiling because of unequal treatment in society. Unfortunately, the gender gap in 21st century America has only expanded. In 2018, the U.S. failed to place in the top 10 — or even the top 40 — of the World Economic Forum’s ranking of 149 countries based on gender equality. In fact, the U.S. dropped to 51st position from its previous rank 49th.

The workplace provides even more evidence of the issue. Despite their advances toward social equality, women are disproportionately underrepresented in leadership positions. Women make up more than 50% of the population. According to the American Association of University Women, women only constitute 25% of legislators and less than 29% of business executives.

Apart from unequal representation in executive leadership, salary inequity has been central to the gender-gap debate. Few experts dispute an earnings gap between women and men, but there’s disagreement when it comes to the proper method of measuring that disparity. The fact remains, however, that nearly two-thirds of minimum-wage workers across the country are female, according to the National Women’s Law Center. Unfortunately, women are underrepresented in government, which makes changing laws relating to their condition more difficult. However, the 116th congress had the largest rise in women members since the 1990s.

To determine where women receive the most equal treatment, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 17 key indicators of gender equality. Our data set ranges from the gap between female and male executives to the disparity in unemployment rates for women and men. Read on for our findings, expert commentary and a full description of our methodology.

1. Main Findings
2. Ask the Experts
3. Methodology
4. Videos for News Use

Main Findings Embed on your website<iframe src="//d2e70e9yced57e.cloudfront.net/wallethub/embed/5835/geochart-women.html" width="556" height="347" frameBorder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> <div style="width:556px;font-size:12px;color:#888;">Source: <a href="https://ift.tt/2nWmzbq>

 

Best States for Women’s Rights

Overall Rank (1 = Best)	State	Total Score	‘Workplace Environment’ Rank	‘Education & Health’ Rank	‘Political Empowerment’ Rank
1	Maine	76.75	8	2	2
2	Hawaii	73.10	3	1	11
3	Nevada	71.22	5	28	1
4	New York	65.68	14	17	5
5	New Mexico	65.63	1	19	17
6	West Virginia	64.61	17	5	23
7	Minnesota	64.60	15	16	7
8	Colorado	64.50	10	10	15
9	Vermont	64.44	16	3	31
10	Delaware	63.81	9	11	20
11	Alaska	63.53	7	21	14
12	Michigan	62.82	31	25	4
13	Iowa	62.60	30	15	8
14	Massachusetts	62.48	40	14	6
15	Montana	61.73	11	7	38
16	Rhode Island	61.08	20	6	27
17	California	60.23	22	27	9
18	Arizona	58.90	2	42	13
19	Ohio	58.07	25	3	47
20	Oregon	57.52	6	37	16
21	New Hampshire	56.95	32	35	10
22	Washington	56.58	41	40	3
23	Connecticut	56.47	33	20	21
24	Kentucky	55.74	19	13	35
25	Wisconsin	54.93	23	30	19
26	North Dakota	54.47	26	18	42
27	Indiana	54.06	37	24	24
28	Pennsylvania	54.04	39	8	44
29	Tennessee	53.35	43	12	32
30	New Jersey	52.30	45	23	22
31	Arkansas	51.64	4	36	40
32	South Dakota	50.71	28	31	41
33	Maryland	50.56	13	33	43
34	Nebraska	50.47	12	44	26
35	Mississippi	50.32	42	29	28
36	Florida	49.85	18	47	18
37	Georgia	49.36	38	22	46
38	Wyoming	49.19	47	34	25
39	Illinois	48.76	35	48	12
40	North Carolina	47.69	34	38	34
41	Kansas	47.27	24	43	30
42	Oklahoma	47.06	36	39	33
43	Missouri	46.68	27	41	36
44	Alabama	45.99	48	26	37
45	Virginia	44.93	21	45	39
46	Louisiana	44.22	49	9	50
47	South Carolina	43.62	46	32	48
48	Texas	42.75	29	46	45
49	Idaho	40.03	44	49	29
50	Utah	25.10	50	50	49

Ask the Experts

As the U.S. slips further down the WEC’s Global Gender Gap Index, we asked a panel of experts to shed light on the reasons behind the country’s disappointing performance in closing its gender gap. Click on the experts’ profiles to read their bios and responses to the following key questions:

1. The U.S. currently ranks 71st globally when it comes to the gender gap in health and survival. What is driving this? What should be done to close this gap?
2. The U.S. currently ranks 98th globally when it comes to the gender gap in political empowerment. Are there strategies the U.S. can learn from other countries to help close this gap?
3. What policies would be most effective in closing the gender pay gap?
4. What policies would prove effective at increasing female representation in senior management roles in the Fortune 500 and other large, multinational corporations?

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• Supriya Baily Ph.D. – Associate Professor, College of Education and Human Development, George Mason University
• Denise Walsh Associate Professor in the Departments of Politics and Women, Gender & Sexuality, University of Virginia
• Ritch Calvin Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Stony Brook University
• Aubrey Westfall Ph.D. – Associate Professor of Political Science, Wheaton College
• Amy Bhatt Ph.D. – Assistant Professor, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Methodology

To determine where women receive the most equal treatment in the U.S., WalletHub compared the 50 states across three key dimensions: 1) Workplace Environment, 2) Education & Health and 3) Political Empowerment.

We evaluated those dimensions using 17 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for women’s equality. For all metrics, we compared the differences between women and men. In certain states and for certain metrics where women showed an advantage over men, we treated the state as having gender equality.

Finally, we determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.

Workplace Environment – Total Points: 40.00

• Income Disparity: Triple Weight (~12.63 Points)Note: “Income” refers to median weekly earnings.
• Higher-Income Disparity: Full Weight (~4.21 Points)Note: “Higher Income” refers to median annual earnings of $100,000 or more.
• Disparity in Share of Executive Positions: Full Weight (~4.21 Points)
• Disparity in Share of Minimum-Wage Workers: Half Weight (~2.11 Points)
• Unemployment-Rate Disparity: Full Weight (~4.21 Points)
• Entrepreneurship-Rate Disparity: Full Weight (~4.21 Points)
• Disparity in Average Number of Work Hours: Half Weight (~2.11 Points)Note: “Average Number of Work Hours” pertains to full-time workers.
• Job Security Disparity: Half Weight (~2.11 Points)
• Economic Security Disparity: Half Weight (~2.11 Points)Note: This metric is based on the Basic Economic Security Tables (BEST) Index, which measures how much income working adults of different family types need to be economically secure. Economic security means having “enough income to meet basic monthly expenses—such as housing, food, transportation and child care expenses—and save for emergencies and retirement.”
• Disparity in Poverty Rate: Half Weight (~2.11 Points)

Education & Health – Total Points: 40.00

• Disparity in Advanced Educational Attainment: Full Weight (~13.33 Points)Note: “Advanced Educational Attainment” refers to the share of the population aged 25 years and older with an advanced degree (higher than a bachelor’s degree).
• Disparity in Math Test Scores: Full Weight (~13.33 Points)
• Disparity in Doctor-Visit Affordability: Full Weight (~13.33 Points)Note: This metric measures the share of adults who could not afford a doctor’s visit in the past year due to costs.

Political Empowerment – Total Points: 20.00

• Disparity in Share of Lawmakers in U.S. Senate: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
• Disparity in Share of Lawmakers in U.S. House of Representatives: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
• Disparity in Share of Lawmakers in State Legislature: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)
• Disparity in Share of State-Elected Executives: Full Weight (~5.00 Points)

 Videos for News Use:

• YouTube (for web embedding National)
• YouTube (for web embedding Maine)
• Raw files (for editing into clips)

• Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, National Women's Law Center, Institute for Women's Policy Research, National Center for Education Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Center for American Women and Politics.

  Image: Atstock Productions / Shutterstock.com

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