Women make up nearly half of the U.S. workforce, and in 2025 about 74 percent of moms with children under age 18 were employed. Despite their strong presence in the labor market, working mothers still face significant challenges. On average, women earn only about 82 percent of what men make per hour, and just 9.4 percent of chief executives at S&P 500 companies are women.
These disparities raise financial concerns and also questions about whether women still need to choose between building a career and raising a family.
How effectively are these challenges are being addressed? Progress varies widely across the country, as parental leave policies and other legal protections differ from state to state. In addition, the quality of essential support systems – such as affordable child care and strong public schools – is far from consistent nationwide.
“The U.S. still has a lot of work to do when it comes to improving conditions for working moms, given the wage gap and the lack of representation women have in certain leadership positions,” Chip Lupo, an analyst for WalletHub, a personal finance website, said in a statement.
Lupo said some states are significantly better than others.
“The best states for working moms provide equitable pay for women and a strong potential for career advancement, along with robust parental leave policies and high-quality child care, health care, and schools,” he said.
To highlight where working mothers have the best and worst opportunities, WalletHub compared states across 17 key metrics to identify the best and worst states for working moms.
| Best states for working moms | Worst states for working moms | ||
| 1. Connecticut | 42. Idaho | ||
| 2. Massachusetts | 43. Texas | ||
| 3. Rhode Island | 44. West Virginia | ||
| 4. New Jersey | 45. South Carolina | ||
| 5. Vermont | 46. Arizona | ||
| 6. Maine | 47. Nevada | ||
| 7. Minnesota | 48. Mississippi | ||
| 8. District of Columbia | 49. New Mexico | ||
| 9. New York | 50. Alabama | ||
| 10. North Dakota | 51. Louisiana | ||
Additional findings from the study:
- Connecticut ranks as the best place for working moms, and it had some of the lowest unemployment rates for women last year, at just 2.7 percent.
- Massachusetts is the second-best state for working moms, in part because it has one of the lowest shares of single moms with children under 18 living in poverty, indicating a strong economic environment for families.
- Rhode Island is the third-best state for working moms, and it has some of the lowest gender-representation gaps in the country when it comes to the manufacturing industry.
- Blue states are more friendly to working moms than red states.
“Affordable child care is key for working parents,” Ann C. Hodges, Professor of law emerita and program chair of paralegal studies at the University of Richmond said. “Companies that provide or support child care are an enormous aid for working parents.”
Hodges said flexibility in work hours and remote work options, at least on some days, also assist working parents in dealing with child care, medical appointments, and school events.
